Love's Been a Little Bit Hard On Me
by savannahlovespitbulls
Summary: Beca screwed up. Can she make things right and get what she's always (secretly) wanted? Or, the fanfic in which Beca totally denies that she's moping around over Jesse. Canon verse, but continues post-movie.
1. Denial

A/N

This story is my first fanfic, but not my first time writing. Tell me what you think of it. Anyway, this story starts out during the movie, but continues post movie. Enjoy!

Chapter One

::

Beca had fucked up – badly. And she knew it too.

And instead of fixing it, here she was, moping, sitting in the dark, watching _The Breakfast Club_. (And totally not crying. Okay, maybe she _was_ crying, but it had a sad ending, okay? This totally had nothing to do with Jesse, and how he hadn't talked to her since Semi-Finals.)

She pops another disc in the CD rom on her laptop –Rocky, ignoring the pang of loneliness in her chest.

::

" _You must really sweep your girlfriend off her feet." Beca says sarcastically, as Jesse pulls out a bunch of classic movies, and tosses her a juice box._

" _Oh, I don't have a girlfriend." Jesse says matter-of-factly, and wearing a grin._ (A grin that doesn't make her face feel warm. Not all all.)

 _For some unknown reason, her stomach flipped._ (Okay, maybe she _did_ know; but she would never admit it to anyone, not even herself.) _She covers up quickly with a witty reply._

" _What?! You have_ Juice Pouches _and_ Rocky!" _she says with a smirk._

::

She's totally not crying. Nope, not at all.

()

She can't believe she actually went to her dad for help. Her _dad_. Although, she has to admit, it's nice to actually have someone to talk to for advice. (Not that she'd ever say that out loud, of course.)

What's even harder to believe is how she's standing at Jesse's door, about to apologize. (It took a lot of swallowing her pride to get her here, okay?) She takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

No answer.

"Come on, Jesse! I know you're in there. I can smell popcorn. " She yells.

After what feels like an eternity, but was probably only a second, she hears the click of a lock, and the door opens.

"Uh, hey." She says hesitantly, fiddling with her hands. "I, uh, tried to call you. I left you a bunch of messages."

"Yeah, I got them." He says flatly.

"I'm sorry that we fought – I was mad, and I over reacted, and I just – Aubrey drives me crazy." She says lamely, shifting her weight from foot to foot, giving him an unsure smile.

"Seriously?" The smile falls off her face. "You think I'm mad because you yelled at me?" Jesse asks her incredulously.

She sighs. "No, I know-"

He cuts her off. "No! You don't know. You think you know, but you don't. You push away anyone who could possibly care about you – why is that?"

She hesitates. "I- I don't know." She mumbles quietly. (Only, she _does_ know. Her parents got divorced, and put her in the middle of everything. So she just shut everyone out. It was just easier.)

'Well, you better figure it out." He tells her. "Because I'm done – with – whatever this is."

"Jesse…" she pleads. But the door shuts in her face.

::

She gets the text when she's watching movies. And not just any movies; all of the movies that Jesse wanted to watch with her. (She's totally not wallowing in self-pity and crying, mind you.)

 **Text from Chloe**

 **1:30 PM**

 **Hey Beca. Good news, the FootNotes were disqualified. We're back in the competition. Come to practice if you feel up to it.**

She considers the text for a moment. _Do I want to go back to the Bellas?_ (Maybe she _does_ miss Fat Amy a little bit…. and Stacie….. and Cynthia…. And Lily…..

Beca shuts her laptop, and throws on some clothes, ridding herself of the sweatpants and baggy shirt she was totally _never_ wearing. (Nope. Totally didn't wear the same pants for three days. Not at all.)

After that, she puts her make-up on. Maybe if she wears enough eye-liner she can cover up the hurt that she's (totally _not_ ) feeling.

::

Beca arrives to a room full of screaming, fighting girls. Aubrey, Chloe, and Amy are all wrestling on the floor, reaching for the pitch pipe. Cynthia has her hand mysteriously close to Stacie's ass; and Lily is making a snow angel in a puddle of….. vomit?

()

"Okay, there's something you might not know about me." Stacie says, taking a deep breath. "I have a lot of sex."

"Yeah, we know, Stacie." Amy mutters.

"Only 'cause I just told you." She flashes back.

"Wait, no- this… this is a good idea." Beca says. "Probably not the best example – but this is a good idea." She drags a chair over and starts to sit down. "Why don't we…. All go around and say something about ourselves that nobody else knows?"

Cynthia stands up. "Okay, I got something. This is hard for me to admit to you guys…"

Amy is practically bouncing up and down in her seat, and Beca shoots her a _calm-the-fuck-down_ glare.

"But I have a pretty big…. Gambling problem." She continues. "It probably started about two years ago when I broke up with my girlfriend."

"Whoop, there it is…" Amy says in a loud whisper, pumping her hands in the air; to which everyone responds with a glare.

Lily pipes up next, giving a quiet murmur that sounds disturbingly something like "I ate my twin in the womb." But she isn't sure (No one is, really, so they just continue with the conversation.)

"Fat Amy?"

Amy scoffs, saying that 'she's an open book.' But she mutters "My name is actually Fat Patricia…."

Beca goes next. "Okay, uh…." She thinks for a moment, about what she should say. "Well, I've never really had a lot of friends who are girls…. And – now I do. Which is pretty cool." She admits with a small smile. After a moment of silence, she says "So that's me…..someone else please go."

They continue to go around the circle. Chloe removed her nodes, and can no longer sing above a G#.

Suddenly, Aubrey stands up, locking eyes with her. "Beca?"

Beca hurriedly stands up.

"What do we do?"

(She _might_ have a few ideas…..)

::

 **FINALS**

The Bellas gather backstage a few minutes before they're scheduled to perform, talking excitedly. (Even she can't deny the adrenaline that's flowing through her viens.)

Beca catches sight of Jesse, standing with the Trebles. She walks up to him. There's so many things she wants to say to him, but the words die on her tongue. She doesn't have the time anyway.

So instead she goes with "Good luck."

Jesse turns around to face her, and she can see hurt behind his eyes. "Thanks…." He says tentatively. "Uh, you too."

She nods, and backs away, into the throng of Bellas as the announcer calls the Trebles up to the stage. She watches sadly as Jesse sings, quite obviously showing off to the female members of the crowd. But even still, she can't deny that it's attractive.

::

All too soon, it's their turn to perform. She turns back to them as they huddle in a circle. "Love you, awesome nerds." She says, flashing a grin. Fat Amy adds in too, saying that 'even though some of you are really skinny- (Which was so pointedly directed at her, but she'll ignore it. For now.) that they have fat hearts.'

"Please welcome the Barden Bellas!"

They walk onto stage, poised and elegant (She might just be exaggerating a _tiny_ bit, but still.)

She takes out the pitch pipe, and blows into it. "One, Two, Three, Four…" she whispers, counting them off.

As per usual, Aubrey starts them off.

 _Seems like everybody's got a price…_

 _I wonder how they sleep at night_

 _When the sale comes first_

 _And the truth comes second_

 _Just stop for a minute and… smile_

Chloe takes over, continuing the first verse of the mash-up.

 _Everybody look to the left…._

 _Everybody look to the right_

 _Can you feel that, yeah?_

 _We're paying with love tonight._

Cynthia Rose takes over then, hopping and swaggering about the stage like she owns it, (And she does.) making the crowd roar in approval. In the crowd, Beca can just barely see Jesse. He's looking down, holding his head in his hands. _This is my last chance…._ She thinks as she walks back to her position as the Bellas form two lines.

She begins to sing as she walks in between her friends.

 _Won't you, come see about me_

 _I'll be alone_

 _Dancing, you know it, baby._

She swears she can see him looking up at her, shock on his face. She makes eye contact with him, and continues her solo; the words flowing out of her mouth freely. (Normally, she'd feel vulnerable, but up here, on the stage, it feels natural.)

 _Tell me, your troubles and doubts_

 _Giving me everything, inside and out_

She feels her lips curl into a huge smile as she sings.

 _Don't you forget about me….._

 _Don't you forget about me…_

Beca joins the Bellas in a sort of conga-line setup, and they walk in place.

 _As you walk on by….._

 _Will you call my name?_

She sees a fist raise into the air, and she just knows that it's Jesse's. In response, she raises hers too.

The Bellas absolutely _nail_ the rest of their performance, and they jump up and down excitedly as the crowd roars in approval. They walk of stage, still squealing.

She approaches their seats – the ones they were given so they could watch the other teams – only to see Jesse standing there, a smug grin on his face.

"I told you, endings are the best part." He says to her.

()

" _What, do you not like movies or something?" He asks her in disbelief._

" _I don't_ hate _them, I just get bored and never make it to the ending." She says defensively, fighting back a smile._

" _But the endings are the best part!" He insists._

()

"You're such a weirdo." She says breathlessly, placing her hands on his shoulders. ( She's still winded from the performance, okay?!)

()

" _So what's your deal?" Jesse asks her, tossing some CD's onto a rack. "You're one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious, and then she takes off her glasses and that amazingly scary ear spike, and you realize that, you know, she's been beautiful the whole time?"_

 _She blinks, deadpanning at him. "I don' wear glasses."_

" _Then you're halfway there." He says, making his way around the large rack and back towards the semen-smeared desk._

" _You're a weirdo." She responds, hiding her tiny smile behind a curtain of hair._

" _Yeah, I am." He says with a huge grin. "And so are you."_

()

She stands on tiptoe, simultaneously pulling his face down towards hers and kisses him deeply, wrapping her hands around his neck, just as his wrap around her waist.

(Okay, so maybe this is the happiest she's been in a long time. But she's not ever going to say that out loud.)

::

A/N

Sorry, more author's notes. I will continue this story. I just wanted to get a foundation chapter out there before I start writing what happens after. How did I do for my first fanfic? Oh, and thanks for reading!


	2. Packing

A/N

While most of this story will be told from Beca's POV, there are a few sections where this is not from her POV. (Just putting this here so no one gets confused.) Thanks for such a positive reaction within a few hours of the first chapter! I usually don't get many readers. Enjoy!

Chapter Two

::

 **1 Month Later**

Things went back to how they were before pretty soon after the ICCA'S. Jesse would meet Beca out on the Quad, walk her to her classes, and bring movies over to her dorm and watch them while she fell asleep on his shoulder. (Not that she _purposely_ fell asleep on his shoulder or anything.)

But Beca tended to stretch her definition of _normal._ Before the ICCA'S, Jesse had constantly flirted with her, much to her secret enjoyment – while she would shy away and hide from her feelings. Now at least she didn't run away whenever she was presented with any form of affection.

And they never went out to lunch or dinner together before. (But that's still 'normal.' Yeah, totally.) Nor did she ever kiss him goodnight after he walked her back to her room for the night.

But other than that, things were totally normal, and she definitely _wasn't_ avoiding any particular worries or problems. (Not at all.)

::

 **Text from Jesse**

 **3:40 PM**

 **Hey, I'll be over in a few minutes with a bunch of movies. Make popcorn?**

Beca rolls her eyes as she gets the text, and walks over to her small microwave on the counter near her bed, tossing a bag of popcorn in, and sets the timer. Then, she straightens up her mussed up sheets, so that her bed looks at least somewhat presentable.

She hears a knock on the door. "It's unlocked, you know!" She grumbles. "Just like it is _every other time_ you come here."

Jesse strides in wearing a grin, and hands her his DVD choices for the day.

"Well, at least I'll never have to worry about you cheating on me." She mutters, looking over the movies and rolling her eyes. "I mean, seriously, _Star Wars_? Pfft, yeah; makes a girl go crazy." (Okay, so _maybe_ she's just projecting – she'd never actually tell him, but she thought his dorky fascination with movies was adorable. She'd also never tell him that she thought _anything_ he did was adorable.)

Jesse looks over at her, seeming a little shocked.

"What?" She asks defensively.

"You…..just said you didn't ever have to worry about me cheating on you." He says quietly.

"Okay – and?"

"Does that mean you actually consider yourself my girlfriend?" He says, losing his shocked expression for a smug one.

Beca doesn't say anything. She definitely doesn't consider him 'just a friend' anymore. But she's also wary of actually calling him her boyfriend. (For one word, it sure does seem to hold a lot of weight, if you ask her.)

Jesse doesn't seem upset by her lack of response at all, and just smirks knowingly as he plops down on her bed.

"I think your popcorn might be done." She says, changing the subject, and glancing over at her microwave. He hops up and eagerly rushes over to his snack. "Anyway, how long is this little movie marathon going to take?"

"Oh, several hours. I have all three original _Star Wars_ movies with me." He says absentmindedly.

" _Several hours?"_ She groans.

"Well I guess I'm taking a potty break before we start, then." She mutters, heading into the bathroom.

()

Jesse is just putting the first disc into the CD rom when he hears his phone vibrating on the dresser. Reaching over, he picks it up.

"Hello, this is Jesse." He says as he answers the call.

"Who is this? I'm looking for Beca." Says a feminine voice over the other end.

 _Oh shit. This wasn't my phone,_ Jesse thinks in panic. "Uh, sorry, I picked up the wrong phone-"

Beca flings open the bathroom door. She must have heard him answer the phone; and she barrels toward him, reaching for her phone.

()

" _Who is this?" An older woman asks. "I'm looking for Beca." Why was some man answering her daughter's phone?_

 _Over the other end of the line she hears some commotion. "Jesse!" That's clearly Beca that's talking. "_ Why _are you answering my phone?!" she hisses._

" _Sorry – I thought it was mine!" She hears 'Jesse' protest._

" _Ugh. Don't touch my phone again._ Ever. _" There's a small pause, before Beca answers the phone._

::

"Mom?" Beca says in a surprised tone.

" _Beca! How has school been? Your father told me your club won some competition?"_ her mother asks.

"Uh, yeah. We won the national a Capella singing competition…" she responds.

" _That's great! I'm so proud of you! Anyway, I was wondering what your plans for summer were; considering your school is letting out in a few weeks. I was assuming you wouldn't want to stay with your father…."_ Her mother's voice trails off.

"Actually, mom, I wouldn't mind spending maybe two weeks with him. I've started talking to him again, so…. I think we're on track to fixing –" Beca hesitates, searching for words. " – fixing what happened."

 _"Oh."_ Her reply sounds somewhat dejected. " _I thought after what happened between your father and I made you…. hate him?"_

"No – it's just – I was 12 when that happened. I was just looking to blame someone – anyone, really." Beca shifts uncomfortably. "Can we switch the subject please?" she asks in a strained tone.

" _Okay."_ Her mother says, knowing not to push the matter. _"…. So; who's this Jesse boy who answered your phone?"_ she asks in a light tone.

"Mooom!" Beca whines at her phone.

" _What? I'm just curious. Is he your boyfrie-"_

Beca cuts her off. "No! He's uh – he's…." she trails off, not knowing how to respond.

" _Well, you take some time to think about that."_ Her mom teases, and she can hear the smile in her voice. _"Anyway, if you wanted to come up to New York for few weeks, you know I always have room for you, Beca."_ After a moment, she adds _"And if you want, your 'not-boyfriend' can come with you too."_

Beca grumbles at her mom's teasing, but graciously accepts the offer anyways. "Thanks mom. I'll definitely be coming up to New York for the summer. Bye."

There's a click as her mother ends the call.

()

To be honest, Beca hadn't thought of what she was going to do over summer at all. She had been avoiding the issue for a while; and had simply shoved it to the back of her mind. She wasn't worried about staying occupied – not in the least.

No, she was more afraid of what would happen with her and Jesse. Beca was still so scared to actually call him her boyfriend. What if he wasn't satisfied with how their relationship (not that she would admit that she even considered this a relationship….) was and lost interest over the summer? What if-?

Her train of thought is interrupted by Jesse speaking. "Hey, are you okay? You've been sitting there for like two minutes with your phone just in your hand…." He sounds concerned. "Oh god, did you mom yell at you or something?"

She's startled – which is saying something, because she's _never_ jumpy. "What? Oh – uh, no. She just reminded me about something. I'll tell you later." She says evasively.

Jesse raises an eyebrow. "Don't push me away again." He murmurs quietly, as he rests the laptop on his knees and presses the 'Play' button.

"I promise I'm not." She whispers, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just want some time to think about it. I'll tell you tomorrow – deal?"

Jesse, who had his eyes fixated on the screen, glances over. "Yeah... deal."

"Let's watch the movie, and worry about this tomorrow." Beca says softly and she curls up more comfortably next to him. _Star Wars_ turns out to be pretty interesting, and not as nerdy as she thought. (Dear god, if anyone ever found that out, she'd die of embarrassment.) But even so, she finds herself being lulled to sleep by Jesse's comforting warmth.

::

Beca was in the middle of packing up her things when she heard a knock at the door. She briefly wondered who it could possibly be (Jesse was packing up his own things, so he hadn't been able to stop by to help her.)

With a grunt, she shoves the rest of her thick, fluffy comforter into the box she was currently working on. "Come in! It's unlocked!" She shouts in annoyance. To her surprise, her mom is the one who opens the door, barging in wearing a huge smile, her eyes bright.

"Mom!" Beca gasps in surprise, as her mother envelopes her in a crushing hug. "I – what are you doing here?!"

"I figured since you would be coming up to New York anyways, I might as well help you pack, and pick you up!" her mother says excitedly, grinning widely. "You look…. Happier – than when I last saw you."

Beca gives her a tiny smile. "Well, yeah – making friends and winning a National Competition will do that to you. But no worries, the dark make-up and attitude you know and love is here to stay. It looks to cool for me to switch styles."

Her mom laughs. "Well, I'm glad. It hurt – seeing you in such a bad state." Her smile falters for a moment. "Anyway, I was thinking we could grab a bite to eat and catch up, once you're finished here."

Beca hesitates for a moment, recalling her conversation with Jesse the night before.

()

 _Beca yawned loudly, eyelids drooping lazily as she struggled to stay awake. She had insisted upon watching a TV show tonight instead of a movie, so Jesse had put Pokemon on. At first, she'd scoffed and said it was 'nerdy'._ (She totally _never_ had a GameBoy color when she was little, with Pokemon Silver. Nope, never.)

" _So, tomorrow, after we're both done packing our dorm rooms, I was thinking we could go out for dinner or something." Jesse whispered, as Ash and Pikcachu were fighting Team Rocket on screen._

" _Like a date?" Beca murmured sleepily._

 _Jesse smiled. "Yeah. Kind of a parting gift, I guess."_ (They had agreed to both spend two weeks at each other's houses over summer, but hadn't planned exact dates yet.)

" _I don't see why not…" She whispered back. She'd grown more comfortable with going out with him in public in the past few weeks – even if she still hadn't actually referred to him as her boyfriend yet. "Where did you want to go?"_

 _Jesse's eyelids threatened to droop shut. "Maybe we could go out to a fancy Italian restaurant, and get noodles and breadsticks or something…. Or maybe the Hard Rock Café…" he whispered softly; but Beca had already fallen asleep, and was snoring quietly._

()

"Uh, I don't think I can. Sorry, Mom." Beca says hastily.

"Why not?" Her mom questions. "It's not like you're busy, all you're doing is packing up your things. Besides, we could just leave directly from wherever we were eating at."

She sighs. (Beca _hated_ it when her mom went all sensible on her.) "I had plans with a – friend – okay?"

Her mom rolls her eyes. "Well, they can always just come with us." She says.

Beca bites her lip. Tonight is going to be _awkward_ ….. "Fine." She sighs in defeat. "But let me text them to let them know you'll be tagging along."

 **Text sent**

 **1:53 PM**

 **Hey. Apparently my mom decided to stop by, and wants to tag along with us to dinner. If you don't want to go anymore, I understand.**

Jesse responds back a moment later.

 **Text from Jesse**

 **1:54 PM**

 **No, that's fine. We'll just have to keep PDA to a minimum. ;) I've been wanting to meet your mom anyway.**

Beca groans internally. She'd almost been hoping he'd say no, so that she could avoid the awkward questions that were sure to arise. "Well, it's okay with them." She says to her mom.

"Great! Let's hurry up and get your things in the car." Her mom says gleefully, already picking up a box. (Great. Now she'll have to deal with a whole night of teasing and interrogations from her mom…..) Beca reluctantly picks up a box of her own, and heads out the door with it.

::

 **A/N**

 **Uh oh! What kind of situation had Beca just gotten herself into?! Tell me how I did – my muse was on a roll today, so I somehow managed to type this all in one day. Don't expect updates like this everyday. But since it's summer break right now, I will be updating relatively regularly. This was so fun to write – Beca's mom is the exact opposite of her; it's great. XD**


	3. Car Trips and Chili

A/N

So, I have a feeling this chapter will either be really good, or really bad; and either very long or rather short. (I don't know yet, of course, because I'm writing this before I even start to type this up.) (Additionally; I'm looking for an editor, because I've spotted some errors in my other chapters.))

Chapter Three

::

Her mom's car pulled to a stop in front of Barden's local _Chili's_ , the headlights flicking off. Beca hopped out of the car grouchily. This is _not_ what she had in mind. (First, her mom tags along on her and Jesse's date – _if anyone ever found out she considered this a date, she would_ die – and then she drags her out a _Chili's_ – the most boring chain restaurant out there right after AppleBee's)

Secondly, her mom was so overbearing sometimes. (She loved her – but god _damn_ this woman didn't know when to back off.) Beca had been planning on doing something special for Jesse, but with her mom here, her confidence had dissipated like steam in a shower.

"So, when is your friend going to be here?" Beca looked over at her mother, startled.

"Well, uh, he doesn't have a car… but it's only like a five minute walk from campus." She checked her phone. Jesse had texted her saying he had left three minutes – almost four now – ago. "He'll be here in a second. Let's go inside and wait for him instead of standing around like idiots." She says, hunching her shoulders.

"Wow, someone's grouchy." Her mom says, rolling her eyes at her daughter's sass. "Are we snappy because our mom is interrupting a date, maybe? You said your friend was a 'he.'" Her mom teases, but then looks genuinely guilty. "Oh my gosh, am I actually interrupting a date?"

 _Yes!_ She screams internally.

"No, mom, it's fine. He was cool with it." She says nonchalantly, shrugging like it's no big deal. ( _I was going to-)_

Just then, a figure could be seen hurriedly walking towards them, interrupting her train of thought.

"Becaw! Becaw!" Jesse shouts as he nears her, flapping his arms like a bird, mouth stretched into a stupid grin - that _did not_ make a blush creep up her neck. Her mom looks over at her, giggling. _Giggling._ (Dear god, help her.)

Beca groans, planting her head in her hands. This is going to be a long night.

()

"So…. How long have you known Beca…?" Beca's mom falters for a moment. "I – uh – don't believe you told me your name." she says as they sit down; purposely setting her purse next to her so that Beca is forced to sit next to Jesse. Beca glowers at her, but scoots in next to him anyway, biting her cheek to prevent her smile from showing her hidden joy.

"It's Jesse." He says. "And, I met her on the first day of school, pretty much. I was singing to her when she was getting out of her cab-"

"Let's just skip that part." Beca hisses, elbowing him.

Jesse smirks, but continues on. "We both have internships at the Radio Station. She actually runs the booth now sometimes." He says proudly.

Beca's mom smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Jesse." She says, proffering a hand; which he shakes gladly. "My name's Shannon."

Beca coughs, interrupting them. "Anyway…. We'd better order our food, because our waitress is here." She gestures towards the poor lady standing there awkwardly, deadpanning at them.

Jesse and her mom both look quite startled, if even a bit guilty for letting the poor waitress stand there, and proceed to order their food.

"Anyway, Beca and I would hang out on the Quad all the time when she would ski- I mean, didn't have classes." Jesse continues amiably once the waitress has left to put their orders in. "You know, I even got her to watch the ending of _The Breakfast Club_ with me." He looks over and gives her the tiniest of smirks, and she remembers how they had nearly kissed that night.

Her mom looks shocked. "But Beca hates movies! She can never finish a single one!"

"Well, she just watched the ending with me." He says almost defensively, raising his hands. "Although, after she yelled at me, and I ignored her for two weeks, I know she _did_ watch a lot of my favorite movi-"

Beca cuts him off. "How did you know that?"

"I could see the DVD boxes, you know."

She huffs and crosses her arms. But her mom seizes the opportunity, "Wow, Beca. He must be really something if you were _moping_ and actually watching movies."

If looks could kill, the glare she shot her mother would have liquefied her.

Jesse was wearing a smug grin now. (Like, _really_ smug. She wish she had that level of self-confidence. That _smug, attractive –_ ugh. She needed to stop with this.) "What's even more interesting, is that she actually came to _apologize_ to me. And I think we both know how stubborn Beca can be." He says with a wink, barely suppressing a laugh.

()

Beca growls at him. Literally _growls._ (To be honest, Jesse would be turned on, but it was also pretty scary. For such a tiny thing, she was intimidating.)

Just then, a waiter, followed by their waitress, brought out their food, saving him. Beca's mom changes the subject, to avoid any bickering. "So, what are your plans for summer, Jesse?" Shannon asks him.

"Oh, well, I was planning on spending the majority of my time at my parent's house; since they only live an hour and a half from campus –" he leans over and steal a fry from Beca's plate. (To his surprise, she doesn't chop off his hand. Instead she actually _smiles._ Well, tries to hide one, anyway.) "But, I also agreed to spend some time with Beca over summer."

Shannon looks back and forth between the two of them, a knowing look on her face. "That seems manageable." She says. "Actually, if you wanted, you could come up to New York with us now, if you'd like. There's plenty of room in my car – and I came here to pick up Beca anyway. We were planning on leaving directly from here."

His face lights up. "Really? I've never been to New York."

"Yes, really." She says, smiling.

"I'd have to grab my things from my dorm –"

She waves a hand dismissively. "Not a problem."

"Great. I guess it's settled then." He reaches over to Beca's plate again and steals a bite of her burger. This time, she glares at him, grumbling something about how 'burgers are her favorite food.' Shannon just laughs at their antics.

::

After the short trip to Jesse's dorm; and a few minutes of shoving everything into the back of her mother's SUV, they're off. Beca volunteers to give up her front seat so she can sit next to Jesse, to which she earns light teasing, but she doesn't really mind.

After a half an hour of listening to her mom's off key singing, Beca practically begs Jesse to put a movie in his laptop. "Really? You want to watch a movie now? Now, that your mother is singing terribly and we have nothing else to do?" he says in a mock offended tone, whispering quietly so that they won't disturb her mom.

Beca rolls her eyes. "Come on Jesse, let's watch _The Breakfast Club_." She whispers back with a grin, knowing he won't be able to say no.

To her delight, he pulls the DVD out of the bag he brought up to his seat,(All the others were shoved in the trunk.) and puts it in the CD rom. Then, he props the laptop up on the cupholder that seperates their seats, and offers her one of his earbuds – which she accepts gratefully.

Beca leans over as far as the stupid cupholder will allow, and rests her head – albeit uncomfortably – on Jesse's shoulder. As the movie continues, everything else around her falls away. She forgets about her mom, singing badly, and the car trip. It's just her, Jesse, and _their_ favorite movie. She snakes her hand around his own, intertwining their fingers,and she can feel his surprise. (But to Jesse's credit, he rolls with it pretty well.)

She barely notices when the movie ends, and another is started. The warmth beside her is too calming, and she drifts to sleep as the hours roll by.

()

Beca is jerked awake by someone shaking her. "What?" she snaps as she comes to, waving an arm sleepily to fight off the intruder.

As her eyes begin to focus, she can see Jesse, outlined by the lights of the car. "We stopped for the night. Your mom was getting too tired to keep driving. C'mon." He lets go of her hand (woah. She didn't even notice he was still holding it, because it just felt normal.) and gets out of the car stiffly; stretching as he does.

She follows suit, and climbs out of the car slowly. "You might want to grab a bag of clothes, Jesse!" she reminds him.

He turns around frantically; and grabs his bag from the back seat. "Thanks."

Beca shrugs. "It's not the first time I've forgotten something like that." She says, waving it off.

Beca's mom is the last out of the car, and she pulls the keys out of the ignition, the car humming quietly as it shut off. "Alright, you two." She says, making her way towards the door of the small hotel.

The pair follows after her, squeezing into the small hotel lobby.

Beca's mom heads over to the desk. "Hi, um, do you have any openings?"

The clerk looks over at her, seeming bored. "Yes, we do." He looks over the group. "A room for four, I'm assuming?"

"Just for three, actually." She says with a tired smile.

"Well, we have rooms for two, rooms for four, and rooms for six. Not rooms for three."

"Okay then, a room for four will work. We're only staying for the night."

"Alright, that'll be $120." The clerk says, handing them a room key. "You have to check out before noon, or else you'll be charged for another day. Your room is 102; down the hall to your left."

Beca and Jesse follow after Shannon as she makes her way down the hall to their room.

"Watch this be some cheap-o room with cockroaches." Beca grumbles.

"I'm sure it's fine." Jesse responds sleepily.

Ahead of them, Beca's mom giggles. "You two are so cute! It's like listening to an old married couple."

Beca freezes. (Ew, no. She is so _not_ ever getting married to Jesse Swanson. She's learned her lesson about marriage.)

Instead of saying anything, she just pushes past her mom, and into the room, flopping down on the first bed. "Th's mine." She mumbles into the pillow.

"Come on, Beca." Her mom scolds. "At least put your bags down. _Then_ we'll decide about sleeping arrangements."

Beca grumbles, but grudgingly gets up anyway, and tosses her bag on the dingy looking chair on the other end of the room.

Jesse is just kind of standing awkwardly in the doorway, and she gestures him over. Almost reluctantly, he sets his own bag down, and sits on the edge of the bed.

After they've all put their things down, Beca's mom assesses the room. "Well, there's two beds. I'll be taking one, obviously, and…." She glances over at Beca and Jesse, unsure of what to do with them. "Well, I guess one of you can sleep on the bed, and the other can take the chair." Jesse pipes up, offering to take the chair.

Beca looks over at it uncertaintly. "Ew, I refuse to let you sleep on that thing." She says, making a mock gagging noise. "I mean, the beds look fine, but that chair looks nasty."

Jesse looks at her as if she's sprouted three heads. But he quickly recovers, and wiggles his eyebrows. "You're just making excuses."

"Am _not._ " She huffs.

"I'm telling you, you two are acting like an old married couple…!" Her mother says in a sing-song voice.

Beca throws a pillow at her, and she hides under the cover. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep. You two figure out your own sleeping arrangement." With that, she shuts off the light; leaving Jesse and Beca in the dark.

Beca rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Just sleep in the bed. Just _don't_ touch me."

Jesse nods, eyes wide, looking legitimately scared; and he slides under the covers.

She soon follows, slipping under the covers, back facing Jesse, careful to ignore the warmth from the other side. But as the minutes tick by, her brain is still wide awake. Reluctantly, she turns over, and pokes Jesse, who's barely visible in the dark.

He nearly jumps out of his skin, and turns around. "What?" he whispers.

"When we get to New York tomorrow, I'll show you around." She whispers back.

"You woke me up to tell me that?"

"Oh, you were awake?" She asks guiltily. "I couldn't sleep."

"Oh…."

Silence stretches between them, and she can sense the tension building.

 _Oh, fuck it,_ she thinks, and grabs Jesse's arm (which is a lot more muscular than she would have thought, to be honest.) and pulls him closer to her. To her surprise, his arm wraps around her. "Knew you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off me…" he says, and she can almost hear his grin, his satisfaction.

She rolls her eyes, even though she know he can't see it, and just sidles closer to him, enjoying the warmth

A/N

Tada!

More teeth-rotting fluff! Now with double the Jeca banter! (Prepare for trouble – and make it double. (Wait, this isn't Team Rocket…. Although they do share some names….)

Anywho, next chapter is going to be all about NYC. Now, I've only been once (and it was awesome) but I still don't know much about the city; but I'll try my best. Thank you for all the amazing feedback!

P.S If you're interested in being my story editor, just email me at Savannahlovespitbulls

Thanks for reading!


	4. The City That Never Sleeps

A/N

So sorry that this chapter has taken so long! I'm researching NYC as I've been writing to get a better picture of the city in my head. The time I went to NYC was nearly two years ago. (I can't believe my 13th birthday was two years ago…. But alas, my existential crisis can wait until after I write this.)

Chapter Four

::

Shannon tosses a keychain through the air. "Here, Beca – open the door for us." She says, shuffling slowly up a stone path, balancing several boxes precariously in her arms.

Beca caught the keys successfully, which was actually quite surprising, and clumsily opened the door, barely keeping her own box's contents from falling everywhere, and shoves the door open with her shoulder.

The group steps inside, and sets their bags down. "Jesse, you can take the guest room upstairs." Beca's mom says. "Unless you wanted to share a room with Beca…" she adds, trailing off with an evil grin.

Beca stomps her foot. "Ew, mom – _no_!"

Jesse giggles childishly, and makes his way up the dark wooden stairs, assessing the house. It's very modern, dark floors, light walls, and more contemporary decorations. He can hardly believe Beca – a punkish-alternative girl – lives here. It looks so ordinary.

Beca follows after him, carrying her suitcase behind her; and her DJ equipment bag draped carefully over her shoulders. (What? It's precious cargo…)

Once upstairs, she sets her bags down again, and opens a door. "The guest room is the next door down." She gestures down the hall, and drags her bags into her room. A few moments later she can hear muffled footsteps, so he must have gone into the bedroom.

She spends the next half hour or so unpacking, placing her nick nacks on her dresser, and placing clothes back into long barren drawers. Once done, she heads over into the next room to see what Jesse's up to. (Spoiler: He's watching TV.)

"Really? Haven't even been here an hour and you're already being an anti-social dork." Beca jokes lightly.

Jesse nearly jumps out of his skin; and rolls over on the bed to look at her. "Hey" he says, face splitting into a grin that lights up the room.

Beca bites her cheek to avoid smiling, and sits down next to him. "What're you watching?"

"Supernatural. TNT has a marathon on right now." He looks over at her. "Want to watch with me?"

She looks at the TV for a moment. Two men are fighting some creature with fangs. "I'd have no idea what's going on though." She protests.

"We can watch it on Netflix if you want; start from season one." He offers.

She remains silent, instead choosing to lean on his shoulder in companionable silence. "Why don't we head into the city? There's so much I want to show you." She asks suddenly.

Jesse's face lights up. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." She says, rolling her eyes.

"I can see it now." He says, spreading his arms. "The 'Jesse and Beca tour of NYC.'"

Beca is nonplussed. "Shut up before you embarrass yourself, you dork." She smiles, punching his shoulder lightly. "But first, the tour of my room." She grabs his arm and drags him out of the room, and down the hall.

"I bet you've been wondering where a weirdo such as myself resides." She says as she drags him into her room.

Jesse looks at her (how can she describe it? – fondly; lovingly? – all she knows is it's disgustingly cute, and she'd never tell anyone how much she enjoyed it.) and grins. "Actually, yeah. Show me where my little dork resides."

" _Little_?" she protests, whirling around to face him. In response, he places his arm on her head. "Okay, I see what you're getting at." She admits, squirming away from his arm. Striking a dramatic pose, she adds; "Welcome to Beca's room!"

Jesse looks around. Walking over to her dresser, he picks up a small plushie. Eeyore; the donkey from _Whinne the Pooh_ smiles up at him. Turning back to her, he holds up the stuffed animal and makes a surprised face.

"What? He's cute…" she grumbles, snatching the small plushie, and puts it back in its spot. "Anyway, over there is my huge CD collection; because I still live in 1997." She changes the subject, and points to a large rack.

He walks over and peruses her collection. He holds up a few that catch his eye. " _Imagine Dragons_ … _Coldplay_ ….. _Fall Out Boy_?" He asks incredulously, raising his eyebrows. "Wow. Didn't think you would like these bands."

Beca crosses her arms. " _Imagine Dragons_ and _Fall Out Boy_ are two of my favorites! I've been following Imagine Dragons since they released their first EP!"

He snorts, lips curled into a small smile, and sets the CD's down. "Or maybe you're just not as mysterious as you think you are."

Beca glares at him so hard her eyes hurt. "Whatever. Can we get going?" she huffs. (She shows Jesse her room – full of personal things – and he makes fun of her. Unbelievable.)

Jesse turns around, noticing the change in tone. "Sorry. I was just teasing." He says apologetically. "I actually really love _Imagine Dragons_ and _Fall Out Boy_."

Her glare softens somewhat, but her posture remains tense. "Come on, we can use my mom's car to go a subway station." She says abruptly, turning on her heel, and heading down the stairs.

::

A subway train whirs by, rattling the map Jesse was holding.

Beca groans. "Come on; I know my way around this city. You look like such a tourist with that map."

Jesse grins, still looking at the map. "Well I guess it's a good thing I'm a tourist."

She rolls her eyes and swats the map out of his hands. "Not when you're with me, you're not." She drags him to a bench to wait for the next train. "You'll be a cityrat in no time if you stick with me." She says, flashing him an innocent smile.

"That map was confusing anyways…" he mutters, sitting down.

Beca glances up at the board. _Next train: 20 minutes_. "20 minutes?! Come on!" she glares up at the board.

Jesse leans back in the bench. "No worries. I can keep us occupied." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a DS. "I have Pokemon." His face splits into a grin, and he flips it open.

She leans over to look at the small screen. "Which game?"

"The very best one – SoulSilver."

"That's my favorite one!" She snatches the DS away from him. "Let me play – who'd you pick as your starter?" she asks as the start screen pops up.

"Chiquita…" Jesse mumbles; fiddling his thumbs.

Beca snorts. "Seriously? Wow – no, we need to get you a _real_ Pokemon." She says, resetting the save file. "Totodile, for example."

His eyes widen. "But I was at the Elite Four!"

"Please, I beat this game three days after I bought it. I'll have you at the Elite Four in no time." She flashes back smugly. "Once I level this baby up to a Feraligatr; he'll be a tank – unstoppable."

"I thought Pokemon was nerdy."

"Shut up."

They miss the train twice in a row, engrossed in the game; and barely notice in enough time when a third stops; and squeeze in just before the door closes.

::

"Where are we at?" Jesse asks her, as the pair stumble up the steps of the subway station.

Beca scans the surrounding area. "42nd street." She says dismissively, and grabs his arm, dragging him behind her.

They stop after a moment, and she leans against a building. "Okay, so – where do we want to go today? Times Square is just up the street; there's Central park…" she stops midsentence, lost in thought. "What else is there…" she mutters, half to herself.

"What about Times Square?" Jesse asks hopefully, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, we'll go there. But it's better at night – and it's only…" she checks her phone. "3:45."

"Oh." Is all the he says; sounding disappointed.

She rushes to salvage the situation. "Hey – we'll go tonight, okay? After we eat some dinner, and wander around the city for a bit. I promise."

"Okay – Anyway, did you know there's a giant Toy's R' Us in Times Square?"

"Yeah. It even has a Ferris wheel inside." Beca smiles, and grabs his hand, and they head down the street. "But let's go to the Central Park Zoo first. I've never actually been. Maybe they actually have a lion, like in _Madagascar_ …."

Jesse grins, swinging her arm. "And you say _I'm_ the weirdo."

"Animated movies aren't just for children!" she protests, waving a cab down. "Hold on." She releases his hand for a brief moment, to talk to the driver. "How much to get to Central Park?"

The price the driver gives her is larger than expected, and she has to check her wallet to make sur she has enough cash on her. Reluctantly, she hands him the money, and she and Jesse pile in.

"Why'd you get a cab?"

"Do you really want to wait 30 minutes for a train again? Besides, subways are nasty and gross." She says, rolling her eyes. "Get your game out again. I want to fight the first gym leader."

Jesse laughs and pulls the DS back out. "This gym leader doesn't stand a chance."

()

The cab pulls to a stop near the South end of Central park, and they hop out, thanking the driver.

"Alright, lead on." Jesse gestures at the park in front of them.

"Hold on, I've only been to Central Park like, twice. Let me pull up a map on my phone." Beca waves a hand at him.

"But I thought only tourists used maps!" He teases.

She glares at him. "Shut up. Unless of course, you want to get lost."

He falls silent, and waits for google maps to load on her phone.

"There – that didn't take long, did it?" She smiles sweetly. (You'd never know she was secretly evil.)

Jesse rolls his eyes. "Okay, whatever. Which way are we going?" he says, extending his hand, which she latches onto happily, and leads him into the park.

"We have to go up the central road for a bit, and then go east ever so slightly." Bece replies.

Central park is beautiful. Gentle hills, large trees that dot the ground with shadows; rocks as big as cars – you'd never know you were in the middle of one of the largest cities in America. Horse drawn carriages pass by every now and then; and people on bikes race by.

The walk to the Zoo doesn't take long; maybe 20 minutes at most. And it's definitely worth it – that, and the small entry fee. But its money well spent. The Zoo might not have lions, but it has Penguins; and the zookeeper is feeding them when Jesse and Beca near the exhibit. They watch, fascinated, as the penguins chase little fish around the tank.

And the Snow Leopard – the Snow Leopard was beautiful, sleeping peacefully in the afternoon sunlight. The zoo even had Sea Lions; that were more than happy to perform tricks for the assembled crowd; splashing enthralled tourists with water.

Beca sits on a bench, munching on a bag of chips, eyes still glued on the Sea Lions. Jesse nudges her side. "I think we have a friend." He whispers.

She glances down. A small finch sits on her leg, looking up at her with intelligent eyes. Smiling, she offers the small bird a chip; which it takes gratefully, and flies away to eat.

Beca closes her eyes, and leans back on the bench. "What time is it?"

"5:30."

"Well, we ate here, so we might as well head over to Times Square now."

"Sounds good." He says nonchalantly; but she can hear the excitement in his voice.

()

When they arrive in Times Square, night has fallen, and the streets are illuminated by the glowing billboards. People of all races; from all over the world; milling about.

"Wow. America really is like a big melting pot of culture…" Jesse whispers in awe; slack jawed as he takes in Times Square.

"Yeah; it really is amazing. I'll never cease to be amazed, no matter how many times I come here." She whispers; looking over at Jesse's stunned face, smiling in adoration. "Anyway, I believe we have a Ferris wheel to ride."

She grabs onto his hand, fingers curling around his, and weaves him through the crowd – although, her smaller stature proves to be a bit of a problem.

Jesse was right; the Toys R' Us is _huge_ ; it has three stories. They decide to wander around a bit before going on the ferris wheel. They find a giant statue of the T-Rex from Jurassic Park that actually roars; a Lego sculpture of The Statue of Liberty; a Barbie House; and a cookie making station. Despite the target age group being children; they sit down to make cookies; making silly designs, and somehow getting frosting on each other.

Cookies in hand, they head back to the front of the store, and pay for tickets on the ferris wheel. The line is long; the ticket seller explains that summer is a busy time in NYC, and the wait in line for nearly 30 minutes before reaching the front.

Once it's their turn, they get stuck in a My Little Pony seat. Beca laughs as they get in. If any other person had been with her today, she would have outright refused to get in this thing.

"What's so funny?" Jesse asks her as he buckles the seat belt.

Beca shakes her head. "Nothing…" but she can't keep a straight face. "I was just thinking how I would never get on this thing with anyone else."

Jesse grins, and the ride starts up, and their seat begins to rise. "Admit it, today was fun."

"Yeah, but only because you were here." She freezes, realizing what she's just admitted.

Jesse's eyes widen, surprise written all over his face. "Really?"

Beca remains silent for a moment. _No, I'm done running from my feelings._ "Yeah… I love you, you stupid dork." She whispers, leaning over to kiss him.

After she pulls away, Jesse grins. "That was the coolest timing for a kiss. Are you sure you're not some sappy romance movie writer?"

She laughs, and swats his arm. "Shut up, Swanson."

::

A/N

I hope you like this chapter as much as I do! This was hard to write – I had to look up maps and stuff. (Yes, there really is a Metro station on 42nd street.) But I also combined my own personal experiences in this chapter. I actually went to Central Park and made cookies in Toys R' US during my time in NYC; so hopefully this chapter feels authentic. Enjoy some more teeth rottingly sweet fluff!


	5. Morning Chats and Phone Calls

A/N

Oh my gosh. You all will hate me for this chapter. Don't worry though. There will still be cuteness.

Chapter Five

::

Beca leans on Jesse's shoulders as they walk up the steps to her house. It had been a long day, and they were both tired.

"What time is it? I hope we don't wake up your mom…" Jesse mumbles as they step inside.

"She won't care. Trust me. Just take off your shoes so we don't make up so much noise going upstairs." Beca murmurs, slipping out of her shoes. Jesse soon follows, and they set them under the small table near the front door.

They shuffle upstairs clumsily, not wanting to turn on any lights for fear of waking Shannon.

"Which room we going into?" Jesse asks her sleepily.

"Mine." She whispers, grabbing his hand and dragging him into her room. "Let's watch that Supernatural show you were talking about earlier…"

"Okay. Let me go get my laptop though..." he whispers back, and walks off in search of his laptop.

()

Beca stumbles over to her bed, eyes barely staying open, and slides under the sheets. _Shit. I still need to change._ Grumpily, she slithers out of the bed, and makes her way to her dresser, and pulls out some pajamas at random. She's just pulled her shirt off, when Jesse decides to walk in,

"Woah! Woah!" he exclaims, raising his hands defensively, and backs out the room.

"Jesse, its fine. I don't care, I'm just getting dressed." She insists, putting on her pajama top, and removing her bra underneath it. "I'm literally just putting on sweatpants."

Cautiously, he walks back into the room, laptop in tow. "Sorry. I just didn't want to barge in here while you were getting dressed…" he says as he sits down on her bed, and opens his laptop.

Beca smiles, admiring his respect. Not many guys would have done that. "Alright, so pull up this show you were talking about." She says, flopping down on her bed.

Jesse grins tiredly and opens up Netflix, pulling up the show. "I'll start with the Pilot, but I'm warning you – there's 7 seasons."

"Must be a good show, then…" she mumbles tiredly, pulling her blankets over them, and curling comfortably next to him.

The episode starts; and it depicts a family. The mother goes to check on the baby, and then she – _burns on the ceiling_?! "Jesse, what the hell?" she whispers loudly.

He smirks. "I can't tell you. That would be spoiling the show for you."

The intro screen plays, and then jumps to the present – or, would have been the present back in 2005. As the episode continues, they meet Dean and Sam; brothers who hunt demons and ghosts.

"Dean is attractive." Beca says to Jesse in a teasing manner.

"I am offended! What does Dean Winchester have that I don't?" he scoffs, barely containing a laugh.

"Well, for one, the jawline." She says, reaching up to run a hand over Jesse's face. "And the pretty green eyes…" she laughs quietly into the darkness.

()

" _Okay, okay." Chloe shouts, waving her arms to get everyone's attention. "Girls!"_

 _The Bellas all return to their former positions, in a circle on the floor. "What now, Chloe? It's like, midnight." Amy asks in annoyance._

" _Oh be quiet. None of us are sleeping tonight anyways. That's how sleepovers go." Chloe flashes back. Running a hand through her hair in an attempt to regain her posture, she adds, "Anyway – since this_ is _a sleepover, we just have to talk about guys."_

" _You're setting feminism back by about 40 years here, Chloe." Beca chimes in, rolling her eyes. Lily says something too, but no one really understands, so they just move on._

" _Well, I wouldn't have a problem about staying up to gossip about guys, what about you, Flatbutt?" Amy says with a wink, nudging Beca._

 _Beca just crosses her arms and glares. "Well,_ I _wouldn't mind talking about guys all night long!" Stacie pipes up, crawling forward on her stomach so that she's in the circle. She reaches under Beca, taking her pillow and using it to prop herself up, earning herself an eye roll in return._

" _Yeah, we know Stacie." Amy mutters._

" _Well, you all can stay up and gossip." Cynthia says loudly from the other end of the room. "I'm gonna go to sleep." With that, she rolls onto her side and pulls a blanket over head._

" _Anyways!" Chloe cuts in loudly. "Back to the topic at hand – what do you all like the most about guys?" she asks, dropping her voice to a low whisper._

" _Well, I think it's all about size, you know?" Stacie says, starting the conversation off. "I don't really mind what they look like, as long as they're not total trash, and aren't assholes."_

 _The girls are all silent for a moment, processing this. "Um, okay…." Amy is the first to speak again. "Well, I go for more confident dudes. Not douchebag-ey confident, but you know, self-esteem is nice. As for looks, I don't really have a preference, but guys who can sing or play instruments in a definite turn on."_

 _Chloe turns to Beca. "What about you?"_

 _Beca squirms in her seat. "Do I really have to answer this?" she asks, discomfort coloring her tone._

" _YES!" The girls all shout in unison._

 _She sighs in defeat. "Ugh. Fine. Well, I don't usually go for looks on guys; I think it's more about personality. Like, if they can make me laugh and get me out of my comfort zone." She thinks for a moment before continuing. "But if I was concerned about looks, I'd say, jawlines, arms, and chest are a definite plus." With her privacy thoroughly invaded, she draws her knees closer to her chest and rests her arms across them._

" _Wow." Amy says after a moment, mouth forming an 'o'; stunned. "You know, for a while, I thought you were a lesbian, with you earspikes and all."_

 _Beca buries her head in her hands, face flushing red. "Shut up, Amy! You're not helping!"_

 _Chloe swoops in, seizing the opportunity. "You know, it sounds like you were describing that – what's his name? – Jesse guy." She says with a devilish grin, leaning over into Beca's personal space._

" _No I'm not! He's a Treble, I'm not even allowed to date the guy." She protests weakly, leaning away from Chloe._

" _So? The only person who actually cares about that rule is Aubrey, and she's not even here – actually…. That's a good idea! We could totally gossip about the Trebles!" Chloe giggles, crossing her legs underneath her body._

 _The other Bellas cheer in agreement. Such a taboo topic appeals greatly to them. Beca just groans, her face growing even redder in her hands. This was supposed to be a fun night…_

()

"What's so funny?" Jesse asks her in a hushed tone, his breath tickling her ear.

Beca shakes her head, laughing so hard that no noise is forthcoming. After she catches her breath, she manages to explain. "I just remembered this night that the Bellas and I were talking about guys. It was hilarious."

"Oh god, I can only imagine the things Stacie was saying." Jesse groans in horror.

"Surprisingly, she wasn't that bad."

"So, I'm curious, what exactly were you talking about that night?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

Beca laughs at his childish display. "We were just talking about what we thought made guys attractive. You know, typical cliché girly stuff."

"Oh?"

She lays down, draping herself across his chest, resting her head under his chin. "Yeah. I said chest and arms."

Beca can almost feel his grin. "Oh yeah?" he wraps an arm around her. "You mean like this?"

"What about you? What makes girls so attractive?" she challenges.

Jesse is silent for a moment. "Well…" he cups her face in his hands, lifting it so that they lock eyes. "I think it's the face. The pretty eyes, the lips…" he murmurs, eyes trailing down her face.

She blushes, and hides her face. "What time is it?" she asks, changing the subject.

Jesse reaches over to her dresser, and checks his phone. "Just after two am."

She bolts up. "Shit, shit, shit. We should be asleep." She says in a panic, struggling to untangle herself from her sheets.

Jesse wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her back down. "It's fine." He murmurs, pressing his lips to her forehead lightly. "I can just sleep here."

Beca remains silent for a moment, the gears in her head turning at a mile a minute. "But what if my mom-"

"It's pretty obvious we're dating Beca."

Her stomach flips at the word 'dating' but she says nothing, and sidles closer to him, pulling her sheets over top of them. Beca stays awake for a little while longer, even after Jesse's breathing has slowed, indicating that he's fallen asleep. Instead, she lays there, listening to his breathing, contemplating their earlier conversation.

After a while though, she drifts into sleep, her head resting on her chest.

::

Light is streaming through her window when she opens her eyes again. Jesse is still there. He doesn't seem to have moved an inch, really; her head is still on his chest and everything. She looks up at him; arm calmly draped over her headboard, watching Supernatural on his laptop, hair mussed up from sleep.

"Hey." Beca croaks, throat dry. "What time is it?" she asks, squinting her eyes against the light.

Jesse nearly jumps out of his skin, eyes flying to her face. "Oh. You're awake. It's just past nine thirty. Your mom came up a while ago; said she was making breakfast."

Beca's blood runs cold. "She – she saw us?" she sputters, heat creeping up her neck in embarrassment.

"Bec, its fine. To be honest, I don't think your mom really cares. If anything, she's really happy for you." Jesse reassures her.

She thinks this over for a moment. "Yeah, you're probably right." She admits sheepishly. "But it's still embarrassing caught asleep on top of you."

Jesse chuckles. "Anyway, I got a text from my parents. They wanted to know why I hadn't come down yet."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I was visiting a friend for a few weeks, and that I'd see them in about 2 weeks."

"Oh. They weren't mad, were they?"

"No, of course not. They're glad I've made friends in college." He says, stretching. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to come down and visit them sometime over the summer."

Beca freezes. "I – what? _Visit_ your parents?"

"Yeah. We could have dinner with them."

"I – I don't know. I think it's a bit early to meet your parents. Besides, what if they don't like me?"

"Bec, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Beca pushes herself away and stands up. "I'm going to get dressed, so…"

Jesse's brow furrows. "Beca, we should talk about this-"

She turns on her heel to face him, fists clenched. "I said I was getting dressed." She snaps. "Go away, Jesse."

Jesse backs away slowly. "Fine. Whatever, don't talk about it." He says angrily.

Beca reaches over and slams the door behind him. Throwing her drawer open, she rummages around for a moment, and tosses her clothing choices for the day on her bed.

She pulls her top over her head and grabs a bra from her nightstand, and puts it on. Then she grabs a tanktop and slips her grey shirt over top of it. She pulls her fuzzy sweatpants off and trades them for black skinny jeans. Lastly, she puts on a pair of combat boots.

She runs a brush through her hair, and applies her eyeliner and dark makeup. Then, she checks the mirror.

Satisfied with her appearance, Beca exits her room, only to collide with her mother. "Mom what the hell?"

"I was coming upstairs to call you down for breakfast." Her mom looks her up and down, taking notice of the makeup and shoes. "Where are you going?"

Beca pushes past her. "Out." She throws the curt response over her shoulders as she stomps down the stairs.

"Honey, what happened?"

"Why don't you ask Jesse?" she shouts, throwing open the front door.

Her mom rushes after her. "Beca-"

The door slams in her face.

()

Shannon sighs, slumping against the wall, just as Jesse cautiously creeps down the steps. "Did she seriously just walk out?"

"Yes." She replies wearily, walking back into the kitchen.

Jesse follows her. "Why?" he asks, baffled.

"I don't know. What did you say to her?"

"I just asked her if she wanted to meet my parents-"

"That's your problem right there." Shannon says, shaking her head in disapproval.

"I – what?"

"Beca… doesn't have the best experience with relationships." She says, rubbing her temples. "Did you want coffee?"

Jesse wipes a hand across his face. "Yeah, that'd be great." He says, sitting in a stool near the counter. "And what did you mean by that?"

"Oh, it's just that –" she reaches up to a shelf to grab the coffee grounds. "Her father and I didn't exactly give her the best example of marriage. I don't think she remembers a time when he and I weren't fighting." She fills up a measuring cup with water, and pours it into the coffee maker.

Jesse remains silent for a moment. "She's just so sensitive." His hand curls into a fist in frustration.

Shannon nods. "That she is. She shut everyone out after her father left. I guess she thought she couldn't trust anyone, but I'm not her, so what do I know?" she sighs. "The thing with her is – you have to get her to open up to you, or else she'll push you away and keep you at arm's length forever – but if you push too hard-"

"She'll shut down and refuse to talk to you." Jesse finishes.

"Exactly. You just have to be careful with how you go about it."

"I've been trying to gain her trust for nearly a year, and just when I think I've got it, she goes and does something like this." He says exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair.

"You've managed to break through to her more than you know, trust me." She insists, handing him a mug of coffee.

"Maybe so, but she doesn't trust me completely." He says, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I think you should go try and find where she ran off to."

"She'll yell at me if I go after her."

Shannon nods. "True. But she'll yell if you _don't_ go after her. She wants affection, but doesn't know how to react to it. Beca won't stay mad at you for long if you go and find her; she just won't know how to react. And when she doesn't know how to respond to things, she lashes out."

Jesse glances down at his coffee sadly. "I guess I'll have to get shoes on, then."

"And I'll go find you a map so you know how to get around this god forsaken neighborhood…" Shannon mutters, and starts rummaging through the kitchen drawers in search of a map.

::

Beca shoves her hands in her pockets as she walks briskly down the street. She has no idea where she wants to go; doesn't even have a particular destination in mind, except for as far away from her house as possible.

Once she's a few blocks away, she throws herself down on a bench, trying not to cry. God, she was a horrible person. She just yelled at Jesse with no explanation and stormed out.

And while she felt terrible, she really wasn't ready to meet his parents yet. Meeting the parents meant that things were _serious_ – and oh god, _she'd never been in a relationship before._ After a few moments, she finally catches her breath.

"I should call someone." She mutters to herself under her breath, pulling out her phone. "But who…?" she wonders aloud, scrolling through her contacts list.

After a few minutes of indecisiveness, she settles on a number. Hesitantly, she clicks the number, and presses the call button.

The ringing tone plays, and the person on the other end picks up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Amy?"

"Flatbutt, is that you?" Amy asks cheerfully from the other end.

Beca smiles. "Yeah, it's me. Anyway, listen, I needed some help."

"What's up?"

"First off, I need to you be serious for a moment."

There's a pause, then, "If you're asking _me_ of all people to be serious, then something is seriously bothering you. Spill the beans, girlie."

"Jesse asked me to visit his parents." Beca admits quietly.

"Damn girl! You call that a problem? That's great. Meeting the parents is always a good sign. Unless you're me – or maybe Stacie. We're lone wolves who don't need no pack."

"I just don't think I'm ready to meet them; we've only been dating for a month a half."

"Wait, how did he ask you, like, in person; text; call?" Amy asks suddenly.

"Uh, person…. Why?" Beca says slowly.

"Firstly, where are you two at that he asked you in person? Secondly, please tell me you did _not_ run out on him."

Beca doesn't say anything. "Oh my god. You ran out on him, didn't you?" Amy groans.

"What else was I supposed to do? I don't do well with conflict, okay?"

"You never answered my first question."

Beca sighed. "We're at my mom's."

"You are such a hypocrite, Beca." Amy says. "He's met your mom; why can't you do the same? If he's met your mom, then _you_ obviously consider it to be a serious relationship."

"He wasn't even supposed to fucking be here, Amy! My _mom_ barged in on a date and asked him to tag along!" she protests.

"It's still hypocritical. Seriously, you are worse than a politician."

"Amy, I thought I told you to be serious."

"I _am_ being serious. Politicians are very hypocritical. They're also liars."

Beca sighs. She obviously wasn't getting any advice out of Fat Amy. She presses the 'end call' button in frustration.

She puts her phone back in her pocket, and rises from the bench; continuing down the street.

::

A/N

I'm sorry for this chapter; but I had to put some sort of conflict in here! It was becoming unrealistically sappy, even _with_ Beca's sarcastic banter. I hope everyone was in character for this chapter – Stacie and Amy are a bitch to write. Kudos to those who can write them well. Anyway, this is a _long_ chapter. It's over 3,000 words.

Well, my hands are cramped now, so until next time. Please leave a review and tell me how I'm doing!


	6. Is There Somwhere

A/N

I am so sorry if this chapter is late. I'm camping with my family and have no wifi to post. (I _have_ been writing, but my usual time of 1-2 days per chapter has been slowed due to the fact that we aren't at our cabin most of the time. Again, sorry for inconvenience.)

Chapter Six

::

Bells hanging on a door jingles as Beca opens the door to a local record store and walks in. A young man, no older than twenty five is behind the counter, dressed in a Captain America shirt and grey beanie.

He looks up as she enters and smiles brightly. " 'Morning. You're out awful early, huh?"

Beca smiles uneasily. "Uh, yeah. Needed to get out and get some fresh air. I won't be in your hair long, just browsing." She pauses and looks around the store. "Where are your indie records?"

The man gestures towards one corner of the store and turns his attention back towards counting the money in the register. "Take as long as you like, you're the first customer I've had today."

"Thanks." Beca says over her shoulder, and makes her way towards the rack labeled ' _Indie_ ', and peruses the records stacked there.

She comes across a few that catch her eye. One is a new artist – she's surprised they have it, it's only an EP – and she picks it up, recalling one of her favorite songs from the EP.

 _I promised myself I wouldn't let you complete me_

 _And I'm trying not to let it show_

 _That I don't want to let this go_

Beca freezes, stopping to give the lyrics thought. She's always been the type to never let people in easily, always shut them out – even if she enjoyed having that person around. She'd just learned that people hurt you; and the closer you let them get to you, the more it hurt.

 _I clutched your arms_

 _Like stairway railings_

 _And you clutched my brain_

 _And cured my ailing_

But with Jesse it was different – she'd already let down so many of her walls that she had spent years building up – let down her guard around him so many times… and yet she was still so desperately trying to tell herself that she wasn't attached. She _wanted_ to be close to him; and that scared her.

 _Relationships are like water – there's a tide; a give and take – that both people must contribute to equally,_ she realized. _And I've been taking so much and not giving back anything._

Beca looks down at the album, checking its price, and heads back towards the counter. "I'll take this one."

The man looks up, glancing at her choice. " _Halsey_ , huh? She's really good. I hope she gets more recognition soon; she deserves it."

Beca smiles. "I know, right? Anyway, I figured I'd buy this, since I only own it digitally. I've always preferred having physical copies of my music."

He nods, and rings it up. "Same." He checks the computer. "That'll be ten dollars even."

Beca pulls out her wallet and hands him a ten. He puts the record in a bag and hands it to her.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'll look around a bit more."

"No, no! That's fine."

()

 _Where would Beca go?_ Jesse wondered, looking at the map Shannon had given him, brow furrowed in confusion.

The problem with the map was, it didn't tell you what shops were around, just gave you the roads. So he had headed into town in an attempt to find her. The park and Ice cream shop had been empty, and now he was making his way to another shop across the street.

And that's when he spotted something.

A sign, to be exact.

' _Paul's Records_ '

A record store? Jesse thought back to the vinyls hanging in Beca's dorm.

It was a good place to start, anyway.

::

Bag in hand, Beca heads back to the indie section; looking through more of the music. _Continued Silence_ , Imagine Dragons newest EP catches her eye, but she decides not to buy it – their debut album is coming out soon anyway.

She's looking through the classic rock section when she feels arms wrap her waist. She whips around, feeling both startled and scared; only to see Jesse.

 _Damnit. I should have known he'd find me here._ Beca doesn't even know why she's angry – _she's_ the one who ran off. But now that she's run off, she stubbornly keeps the attitude; and scowls at him, ignoring the comforting warmth. "What do you want, Jesse?"

"To talk."

Beca turns away, and pretends to look at a _Metallica_ album. (She already owns it.) "Kinda busy here."

Jesse's mouth quirks upwards into a grin. " _And Justice for All_? Really? C'mon Bec, I already know you own that one." He takes the album out of hand and sets it back on the rack under the M section.

Beca huffs as the album in snatched from her fingers, and glares at him. "That was the deluxe edition."

He raises his hands defensively. "Geez. Sorry. I just want to talk about things." Her face doesn't change. Sighing, he adds. "I'll buy you any record you want in the store if you talk with me."

This gives Beca pause. She looks around the store for a moment. Looking over at the _Night Visions_ advertisement, she says "Can you buy me _Continued Silence_?"

Jesse checks the price, and sheepishly turns back to her. "Do you have two ones? I only have a ten on me."

She rolls her eyes, the faintest trace of a smile on her face.

::

After Jesse bought her the album, she finally agreed to talk, and led him to a park. (after buying herself a water, that is – she'd done a lot of walking today; she wasn't very active, okay?)

Jesse sits on a bench beside her, idly looking around the park. "So why'd you run off?"

Beca sips on her water for a moment. Then, "I guess I was just… scared." She looks down at her feet. "I tend to lash out at people when I'm afraid. Call it a bad habit."

Jesse is silent for a minute. "What are you afraid of?" he asks quietly.

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

She slams her water down in frustration. "I don't know how to explain it. I just – I've never met someone's parents, okay? Never got far enough to need to meet them."

Jesse realizes what she's implying. "You've never had a serious relationship."

Beca plays with her hair, ignoring him.

"You've never had a boyfriend?"

"No." she whispers, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"You – what? Wait, seriously?" He asks in disbelief.

She shakes her head, face reddening in embarrassment.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. I only ever had one girlfriend; and she dumped me at prom." He laughs.

Beca grins. "Wow. That sounds harsh.

"Well, why didn't you ever have a boyfriend?"

"I don't know. I told myself I didn't want one; but mostly I was afraid of commitment I guess. After my parents split up, I just thought relationships in general were bad. I thought – still think – that love is a croc of shit. It's made up by books and stories."

Jesse's eyebrows raise. "Wow. Okay. You obviously have very strong opinions on the subject. I actually kind of agree with you – it is…. _enhanced_ by stories. But it's not a lie. You even said for yourself that you loved me."

Beca puts her hand over her head. "Don't overthink shit, Jesse."

He looks hurt. "Did you not mean it?"

"I don't know." She rubs her temples, feeling a migraine coming on.

"You don't have to right now. Whenever you figure out the answer is fine by me."

 _He's too nice. I don't deserve someone as good as him_ , Beca thinks. "Okay."

"Will you at least meet my parents?"

"Yeah, fine. I'll meet them."

::

"Okay, so what about the fourth?" Jesse asks around the sharpie cap in his mouth. They're back in her room, looking over a calendar, discussing possible dates for Beca to visit. She'd grudgingly agreed; though she'd put it off. Jesse had been staying with her for over a week now, and was leaving in three days.

Beca is laying on her bed, humming quietly to music she's playing through her headphones, which are hooked up to the turntable. Realizing she hasn't heard him, he leans over and nudges her leg.

"Huh?" she lifts an earbud from her ear, and Jesse repeats the question. "Oh, the fourth of July?" she thinks for a moment. "I don't know. My mom is having a party that day. I'm leaving here on the sixth of July – I think…" she trails off, lost in thought.

Jesse looks back at the calendar, crossing off the week of the fourth. "What about the last week of July? You could stay with me through the first week of August if you wanted to."

Beca pulls a face, and makes a sound of disapproval. "Dad and the Stepmonster have asked me to stay around that time."

Jesse lets go of the Calendar, letting the pages flop shut. "You need to stop." He says suddenly.

Beca jumps a little, caught off guard by the sudden statement. "Stop what?" she asks, lifting the needle from the turntable and turning it off.

"Making excuses." Beca's mouth opens to protest, but he stops her. "Don't deny it either – it's obviously what you're doing."

Beca sighs, throwing her legs over the side of the bed, and sits up. "Is it really that easy to tell? Sorry – it's just – what if they don't like me?" she asks sheepishly.

Jesse reaches over and grabs her arm, pulling her down closer to him. "You'll be fine." He murmurs, pushing a stray hair away from her face. "They'll love you, I'm sure."

She looks up at him, looking vulnerable and exposed. "You really think so?"

Jesse smiles. "I really think so."

::

 **2 Months Later**

Beca steps off the plane, sticking a finger in her ear in a vain attempt to reduce the pressure that accumulated during the ride. She sets her bag down, and pulls the handle up. (The airline company only allowed one carry-on bag per person, and there was no way in _hell_ she was paying a seventy five dollar fee for her luggage. So she had just shoved as much as she could in on suitcase.)

She looks around, trying to figure out where to go – Jesse had agreed to pick her up. (Her dad had, too, but she assured him that she had a ride.) _Probably the lobby..._ she thinks, and tugs her suitcase behind her, the broken wheel giving her a hard time.

Ten minutes and a trip to the lobby later – which yielded no results, Beca is in fullswing bitch mode. Seeing an aiport employee, she waves him down. "Excuse me, but, um, where do you meet people who are here to pick you up at?"

"That's near where the shuttles are at…" he explains, pointing to a sign, and hands her a map of the aiport for good measure. Beca quickly thanks him and rushes off.

Once she gets there, she can definitely see that this _is_ indeed the pick-up person area -or _whatever_ they called this section of the building – but can't find Jesse. _I hope he's not late. Maybe he got stuck in traffic. What if he forgot to pick me up?! Or what if-_

"Becaw! Becaw!" she hears a shout echoing through the spacious airport, interrupting her thoughts.

Beca groans. " _No…_ " This _cannot_ be happening. She turns around to see Jesse, holding a sign that reads _Satan's Child._ (That sounds about right, to be honest.)

She walks over, picking up her now broken suitcase. The wheel fell off on the escalator and pelted some poor old dude on the head. She flips her hair as she nears him. "You called?"

Jesse laughs, and sets the sign down, and scoops her up in his arms. "Jesse! Put me down you little fucker!" she squeals, pounding her fists on his back, making him laugh.

"Sorry. No-can-do." He leans down and picks up her suit case, still carrying her. _Oh my god, he's strong_ her annoyance is momentarily forgotten as she admires his strength.

But after a moment she picks up the squealing again, this time adding whining. " _Jesseeeee! Put me down!_ " she reinforces the demand by adding kicking. (All this can be yours for only $19.95!)

"Fine, fine." He grumbles, setting her down.

She scowls and punches him, struggling to fight the smile threatening to break across her face.

"Do you want to see my new car? My parents helped me buy it."

"You got a _car_? That's so cool. I'm still saving for mine. I'm thinking of getting a Fiat. They have cute little cars." She says, rambling on as they walk. Jesse smiles, patiently listening, and contributing to the conversation whenever he can.

They finally exit the airport, the automatic door sliding shut behind them; Jesse pretending to use the Force to shut the doors; which earns him an eyeroll.

When they reach the parking lot, Beca links her arm with his – only because she doesn't know where to go. (Okay, _maybe_ she enjoys it.)

Jesse grins when her arm wraps around his. "Okay, so – where are we going from here? Did you want to get dinner, or just head straight to my parent's place?"

"Actually, I told my dad that since I wasn't coming to visit him for a full two weeks, that I'd stop by." She replies.

Jesse slithers his arm away, much to Beca's disappointment – but only to pull out his keys, and unlock a car – _his_ car. It's a Jeep; one of the ones with the canvas tops that can be removed. It's dark grey, with a black canvas covering.

Beca walks around the car, inspecting it. "Nice. Is this the new model?"

"Yeah. The 2013 model – it just came out. Cool, right?"

"Hell yeah. I love Jeeps." She runs her hand over the top. "I dare you to take the top off." She challenges him, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Sure." He opens the front door, and pushes the driver seat up, crawling in the back, and unfastens several buckles and straps. After a moment, he folds the top down, and shoves it in a hidden compartment near the trunk. Then, he takes the windows off – they're just little flimsy plastic things, really – and puts them in the trunk.

Hopping back out, he walks back over to Beca. (She was _totally_ staring at his arms, she won't even deny that, but – _hot damn._ Not seeing Jesse for over a month and a half should not be doing this to her.) Jesse grins and waves a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Beca!" he shouts.

She shakes her head, snapping out of her stupor. "What? Sorry."

Jesse grins. "Nothing. I was just taking the top off the Jeep while you ogled me."

Beca's face flushes red. "I – what – I wasn't –" she stammers. Jesse just shakes his head, stifling a laugh.

"C'mon, get in, nerd." He says, hopping in the front seat.

Beca stomps around to the other side of the car, and opens the door. "I am _not_ a nerd." She protests defiantly.

"Maybe not; but you _were_ staring at me."

"Okay, maybe I _was_ staring." She admits. "Dudes taking apart cars is hot."

Jesse laughs. "Yeah, okay. I'll make sure to remember that."

::

 **Songs/Albums referenced:**

 _Continued Silence EP (Imagine Dragons, 2011)_

 _Night Visions (Imagine Dragons, 2012)_

 _Room 93 EP (Halsey, 2014)_ (Yes, I know this wasn't released in 2012, which is when the movie takes place, but I really wanted to incorporate those lyrics. Shush )

 _And Justice for All (Metallica, 1988)_

 _Is There Somewhere (Room 93, Halsey)_

A/N

So! Chapter 6. Phew, this was a pain to write. I'm so tired and sore from walking all week. Vacation is more work that it looks like! And writing in a car is a pain in the ass. Jesse's jeep with the removable top was inspired my mom's boyfriend's jeep; which we drove this week. (Mountains + Jeep w/ top down = lots of wind Fun!) I hope you check out some of the songs and albums I referenced. They're great; even though I don't actually listen to Metallica. (My mom says they're great, so.)

I was going to include more in this chapter, but I'll have to put it in 7, since I like to keep my chapters around 2,000 – 2,500 words. (minus the Author's notes)

Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter out soon, but I have no idea, since I'll be going on _another_ vacation with my dad. Thanks for your patience with the sporadic updates!


	7. Dinner Time!

A/N

So I have a lot of information I want to fit in this chapter, so it may turn out to be longer than usual. Sorry for the delay in updates. I try to update at least once a week, even if it's not the same day every week. But I recently got some very bad news that really just took my desire to write and threw it out the window. Writing is very hard when you're sad. *Sighs* Well, here it is; Chapter Seven….

EDIT: **Had to briefly remove chapter to fix major errors. For some reason Fanfiction didn't want to read the name 'Dr. Mitchell '. Sorry for the inconvenience **

EDIT 2: _Shit._ It STILL didn't want to read it. I had to go back and fix it word by word; save it each time I typed it in and go back and do that repeatedly. I just checked, and it's fine now. (Thank God! I don't know why it's being so temperamental with me today.

Chapter Seven

::

Jesse pulls his Jeep into a space near Dr. Mitchell's house, along the fence outlining the large property. Beca eyes the house for a split second before hopping out of the car, – hair a tangled mess from the wind – having only been to her dad's new place one, she feels strangely nervous; but shoves the thought away as she and Jesse near the doorstep.

 _Knock Knock!_ The door thumps loudly as she raps her knuckles across it. Perhaps she should have rang the door bell instead…

Her thoughts are interrupted as her father opens the door. "Beca!" he smiles warmly, crushing her in a hug. "I was wondering when you'd get here!" he notices Jesse. "And you have a friend…" he falters for a moment, but continues. "Well, come on in, I have plenty of food for lunch." He gestures the pair inside, and shuts the door behind them.

Beca takes her small purse off of her shoulders, hanging it on a rack near the door; looking around, she finds the house to be mostly empty. "Where's the stepmonster?" she asks jokingly, flashing a grin.

Dr. Mitchell rolls his eyes. "She's on a trip with some of her girlfriends. I opted not to go. I can't imagine being packed in a tiny convertible going to Vegas with 4 other women." He explains, laughing heartily.

Jesse nudges Beca's arm. "Imagine going to vegas with Fat Amy, Stacie, Aubrey and Chloe." He mutters; causing Beca to gasp and look over at him in mute horror.

"Oh my gosh, no! I love them to death, but _no_!" she shudders, making her way into the kitchen. "So dad, what're we having?" she asks casually.

shrugs. "I was just making hotdogs and Mac and Cheese."

"Hotdogs are fine." Jesse says enthusiastically, plopping himself down at a stool near the counter.

Beca nods as well. "Hotdogs will work."

"Great!" Dr. Mitchell claps his hands together. "Well the macaroni is still cooking, so it might be a few minutes."

"That's fine, dad. We're not really in any rush" Beca reassures him.

Jesse mumbles an agreement, and something about a bathroom. Dr. Mitchell gestures down a hallway splitting away from the kitchen, and Jesse wanders down it, looking at the wall décor as he goes; noticing several pictures.

After Jesse's gone, he leans forward over the counter. "Isn't that the boy who helped bail you out of jail?"

"Oh; er, yeah, that's him." Beca answers, shifting in her chair awkwardly.

He squints, face scrunching up as if he were trying to recall something. "What was his name again?"

"Jesse."

"Yep, that's it." He pauses, "I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

Beca's nostrils flare, and she smacks her hand against the counter in frustration. "Dad! He's not –" she's interrupted as Jesse walks back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, we're not-" he must have heard her from around the corner and comes to her aid.

"We're not a thing…" she finishes, lips stretched into an uncomfortable smile. "Just friends."

Jesse glances over. "Well…" he begins, but is silenced by a glare and an elbow to the ribs.

Dr. Mitchell's eyes dart back and forth between them, a strange look in his eyes. "Well you two can work that out later." He says, amusement evident in his tone. Behind him, the stove dings, and he turns to around to mix the cheese into the pot of macaroni.

()

About an hour later, they've all finished their lunches and are gathered in the doorway. "Have a nice trip meeting his parents." Dr. Mitchell teases his daughter lightly, eyes twinkling, before leaning in to hug her.

"And you…" he turns to Jesse, and leans in to whisper something into his ear. Jesse's eyebrows raise slightly, and he nods. Dr. Mitchell pats him on the shoulder, a pleased grin on his face.

Beca rolls her eyes. "If you two are done…" she says, coughing loudly.

Her father sighs in exasperation, and opens the door for them. "Have a safe trip!" he shouts, waving a hand as they head out. Beca waves back.

Jesse and Beca hop into the Jeep. As they buckle themselves in, she pulls out a CD she had brought with her from a bag in the backseat.

"Can we listen to this?" asks hopefully.

Jesse squints at the CD. " _The Killers_? Is this 2001 or something?" he jokes.

She punches his arm lightly. "Shut up, this band is great." She pouts, taking the disc out of its case, and popping it into the CD player. "And the early 2000's were great." She huffs.

"Oh really? Why is that?"

"Because the 90's didn't end until at least 2004, that's why."

He considers this for a moment. "That's very true…" he nods slowly.

As he pulls out of his parking space, she cranks the volume up, singing loudly.

 _Are we Human?_

 _Or are we Dancer?_

Jesse sighs, shaking his head. "That's not proper grammar."

Beca tilts her head back in laughter, and just sings louder.

::

When they finally reach Jesse's house and park, its three hours later, and the sun is sinking in the sky. Jesse shuts off the engine, and Beca starts to get out, but he stops her; holding an arm in front of her.

"Beca, wait."

She looks over. "What?" she asks in a worried tone.

Jesse shifts in his seat. "My parents are like, really… religious and stuff." He takes a deep breath. "So they might not like you – right away, that is. Even if they don't… just –" he searches for words. "I'd rather have you walk in like _this_ -" he gestures to her dark outfit, her combat boots; her earspikes,"Than have you walk in as someone you aren't. So if they don't like you – that's it. They just don't like you." He finishes and puts his hands in his lap.

She remains silent for a moment, taking in his little speech. "Okay." She says quietly. "Let's go."

()

An older woman rushes out of the house, door swinging behind her. She hurries over and tackles Jesse in a hug. "Oh! You've brought a girl!" she looks over at Beca skeptically.

"Air, mom! Air!" Jesse shouts; and she releases him.

She looks over at Beca expectantly. Beca shuffles forwardly awkwardly, proffering a hand. In a moment of boldness, she says "Hi, I'm Beca… Jesse's – uh – _girlfriend._ " She says, face flushing red when she utters the _G_ word. Behind his mother, Jesse goes slack-jawed.

You could hear a pin drop. Mrs. Swanson looks at Beca's hand as if it were a snake, seeming reluctant, but shakes it after a moment. "Oh. That's…. – that's lovely." She says after a moment. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes. "I'm Audrey; Jesse's mom, and over there, that's Shane; Jesse's father"

Beca peeks around Audrey's shoulder to look over at Mr. Swanson, who is looking at her disapprovingly. She swallows nervously, heart speeding up in tempo.

Jesse is looking at her face intently, calculating her every move. He seems to sense her anxiety, and shoves himself in between his family and Beca. "So!" he claps his father's shoulder. "Why don't we all go inside?"

His father gives him a withering look, and turns around to head back inside.

'Well, he's very talkative." Beca mutters in Jesse's ear. He snorts, barely stifling a laugh.

"You can say that again." He mutters back.

Beca, ever the smartass, opens her mouth to speak again, but Jesse cuts her off. "Only don't, because we don't want him hearing that." Her mouth shuts again, a sullen look on her face at being denied a snarky comment.

()

Two hours later, Beca had brought her luggage into the house, and taken up temporary residence in one of the guest rooms – much to Mr. Swanson's chagrin. (To be honest, she'd planned on putting most of her stuff in Jesse's room; and he promised to help her sneak her stuff in later, when his parents couldn't see.)

::

 _Beca huffed as she struggled to carry her bag up the steps, glaring at the steep wooden staircase with malice. Jesse was right behind her and lifted the suitcase out of her hands in amusement and easily carried it up the stairs._

" _Someone so tiny shouldn't be carrying a suitcase that weighs as much as them." He'd remarked with a grin._

 _Beca's glare deepened. "Shut up." She hissed through clenched teeth. "Now show me where I'm gonna be sleeping."_

 _Jesse's grin widened at her anger. "Alright. I'll take the little princess to her castle." He knew he was venturing into dangerous territory, but didn't really care much._

 _Beca was practically fuming, and she blushed. "I am_ not _a princess!" she insisted, stomping down the hallway, her boots making a very satisfying sound on the hardwood flooring. She crossed her arms and turned away from Jesse, to hide her face._ (She wasn't a princess, she was a _Queen._ Although to say the remark hadn't pleased her just a bit was an understatement…)

 _Jesse waved an arm. "Uh, hello? Beca? Your room is over here." He laughed as she tried to maintain her glare, and ultimately couldn't._

 _Slumping her shoulders and throwing him a nasty look, she grabbed her luggage and dragged it into her room. "Thanks." She said grudgingly, sounding as if she were being tortured, as she flopped face-first onto the bed in the middle of the room._

" _You're welcome." Jesse said smugly, and sat next to her on the bed. "By the way, since you forced me to see your room, I'm gonna force you to see mine."_

 _Beca groaned. "I bet it's dorky."_

" _Oh, it is." Jesse said matter-of-factly. "You'll love it."_

 _Beca made a noise of protest as he picked her up and carried her down the hall to his room, but was too tired to actually do much of anything about it. After a moment, she was set down again, and Jesse gave a big '_ Tada!' _and gestured around his room._

 _Beca looked around the room curiously. She'd always wondered what kind of room he had. And now she knew._

 _It was totally nerdy._

 _Movie posters lined the walls; Star Wars, Jaws, Lord of The Rings; the list went on. Little Pop!Figures lined a shelf on one side of the room; while records, books, CD's, and games lined the opposite shelf. The walls were dark blue, and he had a generic grey comforter._

" _It's really dorky." She said after a long moment._

" _Well I am pretty dorky."_

" _Yeah, you are."_

" _Do you like it?" he asked hopefully._

 _She looked over at him; at his puppy dog face, and his big brown eyes. Ugh. She'd have to say it, wouldn't she?_

" _I love it."_

 _Jesse pumped his fist. "I knew it."_

 _Beca kicked her shoes off, and leaned back on his bed. "To be honest, I thought for sure I'd be staying in here, considering you pretty much slept in my room every night you were in New York with me." She admitted._

 _Jesse sat down in a computer chair over by his desk and spun around lazily. "'You have a habit of making yourself at home, did you know that?'" he mimicked, smirking._

 _Beca blushed furiously and crossed her arms. "I said that months ago!" she protested indignantly._

" _I have to say, you were positively prophetic." He snickered. "You_ do _have a habit of making yourself at home!"_

 _Beca glared at him, saying nothing._

" _Okay, tell you what" he plants his feet up on his desk and leans back in his chair casually. "I'll help you sneak your stuff in later."_

" _Sneak?" she asked skeptically, eyebrows raised._

" _Yeah, my parents think that girls shouldn't be allowed in my room and shit like that." He replied, shrugging nonchalantly._

" _Won't you get in a lot of trouble if I'm in here? I mean, I don't want to get you in trouble or anything…"_

 _He shrugged again. "Yeah. So?"_

 _Beca leaned back against his headboard, resting her arms behind her head. "My, my; when did you become such a bad boy?"_

 _Jesse rolled his eyes. "God, I bet you find that attractive or something." He said, realizing his mistake._

 _Beca laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything about it." She said. "Yet."_

 _With that, she closed her eyes, and took a nap on Jesse's bed._

()

Jesse's arm nudges her in the side. "C'mon Sleeping Beauty. Food's ready." He whispers in her ear; and she can hear the laugh he's suppressing.

Beca cracks open an eye. "I'll have you know I was secretly listening to you play your game." She flashes back.

"Oh, really?"

"DarkLord145?" she asks, snickering.

Jesse pouts. "My character is a Vampire." He says defensively.

Beca rolls her eyes. "I think you're just over compensating." She says.

"That's inappropriate."

"You know me; master of dirty jokes."

"Yeah, you'll have to keep that to a minimum downstairs." He warns.

"Yeah, okay, okay. I get it. You have super conservative parents." She snaps. "Let's just go downstairs."

"Beca, now is not the time to be lashing out because you're scared."

She flinches. "I'm not lashing out."

Jesse's face hardens. "Yes. You are."

She sighs. "Sorry. Let's just get this over with…" she mutters, shuffling down the stairs, Jesse close behind.

"There you two are!" Beca jumps, looking over in the direction of the voice. Mrs. Swanson has a huge smile on her face; and for the first time today, it looks real. _She seems to be the friendlier parent._

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Jesse apologizes, squeezing past her. "Beca fell asleep."

Mrs. Swanson looks over at her sympathetically. "Long flight?"

Beca nods, relieved at the lack of unease between them. "Yeah. There was a screaming baby right behind me."

Mrs. Swanson laughs, and leads her over to the table, pulling out a chair for her. "Jesse, you can sit next to her, and Shane will sit over here with me." She says, fussing over the position of everything on the table.

"Mom," Jesse lays his hand on his mothers. "Everything looks fine."

"Yes, of course." She says, fixing her hair, and sits down. " _Shane!_ " she shouts. "Get in here! The chicken's done!"

Mr. Swanson emerges from the living room, and takes his place at the table, still eying Beca disapprovingly.

"Shall we say grace?" Mrs. Swanson asks, voice polite, though she looks over at Mr. Swanson pointedly.

Mr. Swanson coughs. "Oh, er, right." They all take each other's hands; and Beca remains politely quiet – she notices that Jesse, too, is quiet as his parents say grace.

Once done, they all grab servings of chicken. Beca spots mashed potatoes, and adds some to her plate, delighted. (She _loves_ them.)

After they all have food, Mr. Swanson starts up a conversation. "So, Beca; I couldn't help but notice you were quiet earlier." He says, thinly veiled disdain in his voice. "You're not religious?"

Beca shifts uncomfortably – this is what she was afraid would happen. "Uh, no. I'm not." She responds politely.

Mr. Swanson's face darkens. "Oh, that's nice. Glad to see our son is dating nice, catholic girls." He says through gritted teeth.

"Dad, I told you, I don't believe in that stuff." Jesse cuts in. "Can we just have a nice dinner, and not talk about this?"

Mr. Swanson looks at his son for a moment, but turns back to Beca. "I also can't help but notice you're… piercings." He continues his verbal onslaught.

Beca hunches her shoulders, hair falling over her face. "Oh, yeah. I like to express myself." She mutters uncomfortably, hiding her face behind her hair.

"Don't worry, Bec. He's all bark and no bite." Jesse whispers,hand ghosting along her knee.

"And what about the dark clothes?"

Beca stands up abruptly, chair scraping on the floor noisily, and slams her fork down on her plate. "I –I think I'm going to go to the bathroom." She stammers, walking down the hall swiftly.

()

Mrs. Swanson glares at her husband. "Shane!" she shouts. "That is no way to treat a guest!"

"Didn't you see her? With her dark clothes and makeup? And all of those piercings? There must have been at least ten in her one ear alone!" he shouts back.

"I did see that." She replies coldly. "But she was nothing but polite to us, and the things you were saying were very rude."

Jesse coughs, as if to remind his parent's that he's there. They look over, ashamed looks adorning their faces.

"I am so sorry your father was acting so childishly, Jesse." His mother apologizes.

"I know you are, mom." He says. "And dad; I hope you're happy – she's probably crying in the bathroom now." He raises his voice. "She's fragile. She's been dealt a bad hand in life."

Mr. Swanson looks down in shame. "But she looks so –"

"Yeah, I know what she looks like." Jesse cuts him off. "She's just projecting; as much as she'd hate to admit it. She _wants_ you to think she's all tough." He explains. "Beca is vulnerable. She's sad; she's insecure."

"Ahem." Mrs. Swanson coughs, grabbing his attention. "Beca has 'been in the bathroom' for over ten minutes." She smiles uneasily. . "I think maybe you should go talk to her." She suggests, punctuating her words with a sharp glare at her husband.

Jesse sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. "You know; two months ago when I suggested her coming here, she ran off, and I had to find her." He says to his father. "Maybe I _shouldn't_ have brought her here."

With that, he rises from the table, and walks down the hall to the bathroom. The light is off. Just to make sure, he turns the handle. It opens – so it's not locked either. _Great – she's probably run off again._

He slumps his shoulders, and marches out the front door; but double takes.

Beca is sitting on the porch, swinging sadly on the porch swing.

::

" _I told you they would hate me_ " she says bitterly when he steps outside.

Jesse walks over and sits next to her on the swing. "My dad would hate any girl I brought home." He says, trying to lighten the situation. Beca looks at him unhappily. "If it means anything, I talked to him; and he feels really bad about saying those things about you." He says softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Beca reaches up a hand to grab his in her own. "He might _feel_ bad about it; but that doesn't mean he likes me. And your mom seemed pretty unsure about me, too. She just wasn't vocal about it." She mumbles, eyes locked on the ground.

Jesse is taken aback. He's hardly ever seen Beca like this – she's usually so adamant and headstrong about her opinions; self confident; snarky – but he realizes now that all was just a wall; a barrier to protect herself -The version of her that he sees now; The insecure, shy, anxious Beca.

"Well, who gives a fuck what they think? I don't need my parent's seal of approval to love you" Jesse says, hand curling into a fist. Beca looks up at him, surprise flickering across her face.

"You said you-" she starts.

"And I meant it." He adds. "To be honest, I'm surprised you said it first." He says, recalling Times Square. "But just because I only now just said the big _L,_ doesn't mean I didn't feel it."

Beca fiddles with her hands for a moment, uncertain. After a moment, she relents, and leans against him. "I really needed to hear that right now." She whispers into his ear

Jesse smiles sadly, and pulls her closer to him, swinging the chair slowly. "I'm sorry my dad was such a dick."

"I was kind of expecting it."

"Even so."

"Are you still gonna sneak my stuff in your room?"

"Nah. I'll do it right now; where my dad can see." He jokes. "Maybe I can give him a heart attack."

Beca laughs. "We could put a sock on your door and make them think we had sex." She offers.

Jesse grimaces. "Ew; no."

::

A/N

Gah! Sorry this chapter took two weeks. I felt really bad about that, but I was having some major writer's block. Hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for it. It's 1,000 words over my preferred limit.

Well; I hope you enjoyed the banter. I made sure to add extra sass and humour. ;)

Until next time!


	8. The (Not So) Polar Express

A/N

Okay, so I have plans for this story coming up very soon (Chapter 9) and I may make an information post about it before then. So if you get a status update of my story and just see an info update, don't be mad! This will be the last chapter taking place during summer. Additionally, there will be a section (or two) that is from Jesse's POV this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

::

Beca shifts uncomfortably on the mattress beneath her. _Jesse's_ mattress.

She's in Jesse's room. The idea freaks her out a little, but she's not sure why - actually, she _does_ know why. Maybe it's because it's not her room, and she isn't in control of the situation. Or maybe because it's the nagging worries left behind from a few hours ago.

She groans and reads the alarm clock on his dresser. _12:36_ , it reads. Groaning in frustration, she rubs her hands over her eyes. She's been lying awake for nearly 3 hours, because Jesse's parents went to bed at an ungodly hour. Seriously – who goes to bed at nine thirty?!

Old people, that's who. And Beca was not an old person. She clumsily fumbles her hand around on a nightstand near Jesse's bed in an attempt to find her phone. Surprisingly, she finds it fairly easily; and unplugs it from the wall.

Deciding that she's _obviously_ not getting sleep any time soon, she pulls up the Tumblr app, and scrolls through her dashboard for a few minutes. But even this fails to reduce the stress and worry that's running rampant through her brain, and she turns the phone's display off in defeat.

Beside her, Jesse's breathing is slow and steady, and Beca can't help but wonder what he's dreaming about. She silently watches him for a few minutes, taking him in. Her eyes linger on his face; his ever so slightly curled hair, his eyes (for a man he has remarkably long eyelashes), his lips. Her eyes trail over him; his neck, his chest. Sighing forlornly, she stares at the ceiling once more, wondering if she should wake him or not.

 _It's best if I don't. I'll just talk to him about it in the morning._

::

Jesse's eyes crack open, and he checks the clock beside him. _8:30._ At least he didn't wake up late. He glances over at the tiny figure clinging to him. Beca looks like a train hit her. Messy hair, bags under eyes….

 _I should let her sleep for a while longer_ , he decides, and carefully untangles himself from her arms, and gets out of the bed. He opens his door, to check if anyone else is up yet. There's a light on downstairs, and he can just barely hear his mother saying something to his father. Jesse quickly puts a shirt on, pulling out the first shirt he sees; and heads downstairs.

His mother looks up from her cooking as he enters the kitchen. "Oh, Jesse! You're awake." She smiles. "Where's Beca?"

"Oh, she's still sleeping. I don't think she got very good sleep last night, so I decided to let her sleep in." he explains, sitting himself on one of the many stools next to the kitchen's breakfast bar.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." His mother frowns, looking at the eggs cooking on the griddle. "Well, I guess she can eat breakfast whenever she comes down here." She looks sadly at the fourth egg that's cooking. "Although it'll probably be cold by the time she's awake." She says with a sigh.

"I'm sure she'll be awake soon." He reassures his mom, before heading into the living room, to where his father sits; already watching TV.

"Mornin' Jesse." His father greets him.

"Uh, good morning." Jesse gives his own greeting hesitantly, still angry at him. "You're already watching TV? Really, dad?"

"What? It's the news." His father protests. "And according to the news, it's going to be sunny outside today."

Jesse rolls his eyes and sits down on the large sofa, opposite to the recliner his father is sitting in; and they both watch the news for a while. Nothing really catches his interest, so he just waits patiently for breakfast to be ready.

()

" _BREAKFAST!"_ Jesse jumps, eyes snapping open. (His other could be scarily loud sometimes.) He must have fallen asleep sitting on the couch. Grumbling, he shuffles into the kitchen. The clock on the stove now reads five past nine, but there's still no sign of – his thoughts are cut short as a familiar tiny figure rushes down the stairs.

"Sorry I woke up so late!" She apologizes breathlessly. Audrey takes in her appearance – tired looking bags under her eyes, and hair a mess. (Though slightly less so; she must have brushed it a little) "No need, dear. It looks like you needed the extra half hour of sleep."

Beca sweeps her hair out of her face, and sighs in relief. She looks over at the stools lined up at the breakfast bar and takes the spot next to Jesse. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, toast, and bacon." Audrey says, pulling toast out of the toaster oven and setting it on a paper plate, and covering it with paper towel to keep it warm.

"Oh, I love eggs and toast! Are they scrambled?"

"Sadly, no. I made them all into omelets." She says, placing plates full of egg in front of everyone. "Take as much toast and bacon as y'all want. I made extra."

::

"Hey what time is it?" Beca asks lazily, engrossed in the _Supernatural_ episode on Jesse's laptop screen.

Jesse pauses the movie and swipes his mouse to the side of the screen, pulling up a clock. "It's 10:30."

"What do you want to do today?" she asks. "I don't want to just sit around watching episodes of TV shows. We can do that later. By the way –" she takes Jesse's phone from his pocket and presses the home button, and the screen flickers to life. "You could have just checked the time with this, you know."

Jesse glares at the phone, taking it from her hands. "Whatever…" he grumbles, flipping his laptop screen shut. "Well, we can do something outside later – according to my dad it's going to be sunny outside today..." he mutters sarcastically.

"You know, speaking of your dad –" she says, propping herself upright. "What's his deal?"

Jesse shrugs. "I dunno. My dad's …. Weird. I never had the best relationship with him myself."

"But I mean, I'm kind of disappointed that he _didn't_ have a heart attack yesterday." She muses, twisting her hair idly in with her finger. "Although his face did turn pretty red."

He laughs. "Yeah, my mom thought that was funny. You know, she made him sleep on the couch last night because of how rude he was."

"No way." Beca says, eyes wide. "Seriously?!"

"Yes way." Jesse replies back; and they both fall into fits of laughter.

Beca's laughter fades and she deadpans at him. "Seriously though, what are we going to do today?"

"Well, there's a scenic train route we can do later. But it doesn't even open until one. So in the meantime, let's play some games."

"What systems do you have?"

"An Xbox 360, a PlayStation 2, and a NES."

"Holy shit. You have a Nintendo?!" Beca asks excitedly.

"Uh, yeah," Jesse shrugs. "I have Super Mario Bros for it, too."

Beca leans off the bed and clings to his shoulder. " _Show me."_

::

Beca looks through his stack of games idly, searching for any she wants to play. "So, how many cabinets full of games do you have, exactly?"

"Like, three." Jesse answers, plugging in the video and sound cables for the NES. "Unfortunately, we can't play Duck Hunt for this thing." He adds.

Beca, who had set aside the Mario/Duck Hunt cartridge, looks up. "What?! Why not?"

"Uh, because the Zapper guns don't work on LCD TV's." He says matter of factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Basically, how the Zapper works, is, when you 'shoot' it; the screen goes black for a single frame. In the next frame, where you 'aimed' there's a white square. If the square hits a duck, you get a point. But that only works on older TV's. LCD is too new."

Beca blinks. "Yeah, that made zero sense to me." She mutters, pulling another cartridge off the stack- Mario Bros 2. "Nerd." She adds under her breath.

Jesse huffs and crosses his arms. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Beca ignores him, humming quietly as she looks through more games.

He leans closer. "I said; what was that?"

She can barely contain her grin. "And I said – 'nerd.'"

"I'll bet you ten bucks I can kick your ass at Call of Duty. The older ones, for PS2."

Beca gladly accepts the challenge. "Fifteen that _I_ can kick your ass."

"Deal."

"So are we playing Mario last now, or what?"

Jesse pops open the Play Station's CD Rom. "Definitely last."

()

 _Boom!_ The grenade that Jesse's character threw blows up in Beca's face, effectively killing her character.

It takes all of her self-control not to throw her controller out of the window and rage quit. "That's your fifth kill on me in the past, like, _two minutes_!"

Jesse grins. "I know. Guess it's pretty easy to say _I'll_ be getting that extra fifteen bucks today. Don't worry, I'll buy you something on the train with it."

"Oh yeah?" she challenges. "Well I won't let you have that satisfaction. I'm a strong, independent woman who buys her own stuff." She huffs.

"But like, if you want to be me some converse shoes, go for it." She adds sheepishly.

Jesse laughs, and easily scores another kill on Beca, making her grumpier than ever.

"Wait, so can I like, pick up this weapon from the ground?" she asks suddenly. "I haven't played this in years. I need my skills to come back to me."

Jesse rolls his eyes. "Yes, you can do that."

"Sweet, because this is like, a rad sniper with a heat sensing scope, so…." She chirps, dropping her light machine gun for the gun.

"Wait – _fuck_." Jesse curses, and tries to find her before she can get to a good sniping area.

"It's about to go down…" Beca sings quietly, climbing up a building. "I'll give you the run – down…."

She pauses in her singing. "Oh, wait. There you are." She expertly aims the gun, not even bothering to use the scope, and gets a headshot.

"Told you I could kick your ass."

Jesse glares at the screen. "Did you just hustle me?"

"Maybe." She says sweetly, smiling innocently.

()

Jesse's jaw dropped as Beca sniped his character in the head. _Again._ "Beca, that's your tenth kill in a row!" Jesse shouts, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I haven't made a single shot in over five minutes!"

Beca grins devilishly, scoring another kill while he's looking away from the screen. "Sounds like somebody's a sore loser." She teases, grabbing a care package that falls from the sky. "If you want; I'll let you screen-look. You could use the extra help."

Jesse pouts and glares at the screen. "Fuck you." He mutters, pressing down on his controller's buttons with more force than necessary.

Beca gasps. "Language!" she admonishes; earning a grumpy eye roll.

"You know, I think I'm gonna go shower so we can get ready to go on the train." Jesse grumbles, turning off his controller.

"Yeah, okay Mr. Sore Loser. You totally owe me fifteen bucks!" She shouts as he heads up the stairs. "Oh by the way, I'm going to play your Nintendo now, thanks!"

()

Beca smiles to herself as she plugs in Jesse's Nintendo. Switching the TV over to the proper format, she pops the cartridge in, and turns the system on.

"Oh, Mario Bros…." She sighs. "I've missed you."

She presses the Start button, and the menu screen greets her. "Well, it's just me playing for now…" she mutters to herself, choosing single player mode.

" _Ba-da-da-da-_ _ **da**_ _-dat!_ " Beca hums along to the 8-bit music as the level starts. "Okay, Mario. Let's kick some goomba ass." She smiles, stomping on the goombas, and getting a mushroom to increase Mario's size.

"Now if I could just remember what pipe all the coins are under…" she fiddles with the old controller, trying to remember which button takes Mario down pipes.

"Hey, Beca." She jumps, accidentally sending poor Mario off of a cliff.

 _ **Lives: x2**_

Beca glares at the black screen and turns around grumpily. "Damnit Je- Oh, uh, hey Mr. Swanson."

Mr. Swanson stands in the doorway awkwardly. "I was just coming out here to watch TV, but since you're using it…" he backs away, into the kitchen.

"Oh, no, that's fine. I can get up and unplug the Nintendo." She motions to unplug the power cord.

"No, Beca, that's fine. You don't have to do that. You can stay out here as long as you like."

She stops, looking over at Mr. Swanson curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. After all, what I said to you was really rude of me." He mutters, looking at his feet in shame.

Beca glances at the second controller tucked away in the entertainment stand's cabinet; an idea forming in her head. "Hey, how good are you at playing Mario?"

::

"Oh, Beca, I booked us tickets for the train-" Jesse calls as he heads down the stairs; but stops short when he sees the scene before him.

"Get Bowser with the fire flower!" Beca shouts. "Get him!"

Mr. Swanson is pressing the A button frantically, but Bowser stomps on him.

" _AAGHH!_ " They shout in unison.

"Oh, hey Jesse!" Beca says, eyes focused on the screen. "Did you know your dad is really good at Mario? I got to world three, but he's all the way at the fourth castle!"

"Oh, yeah, he used to play with me all the time." Jesse says, sitting down on the sofa to watch the game. "By the way, I got us tickets to the steam train. To get there by 1:30 we should leave soon."

Beca pauses the game and makes a pouty face up at him. "Aww, but I was about to get to the third castle!"

"You haven't even gotten dressed though." He responds, gesturing to her Mickey Mouse pajamas.

Beca looks down at her shirt. "Oh, right. Well, it was fun playing Mario with you." She says to Mr. Swanson, and turns off the Nintendo, tucking her controller into a cabinet neatly. "I'll be back in a few minutes!" she shouts, running up the stairs.

"Your girlfriend is quite the character." Mr. Swanson remarks, shaking his head in amusement. "I can't believe I thought she was a bad influence."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

::

 **Train Parking Full**

"Ugh! I can't believe the parking is full! We're here 15 minutes before they even board!" Beca glares at the sign in frustration. "There's probably going to be lots of people on the train…" she groans, rubbing her temples.

"I got first class seating." Jesse says, turning the steering wheel sharply to turn around out of the lot.

"Wasn't that expensive though?"

"Eh." He shrugs. "Only 20 dollars more. It has a snack bar in the car apparently." He adds.

"Oh, that's cool." She frowns. "But really, it wasn't necessary to spend the extra money." Beca insists.

"I didn't want to be in standard seating full of crying babies, so I just got the first class seats."

"There's going to be crying babies?! Urghh." She groans again. "Oh wait, there's free parking under that bridge."

"Sweet." He pulls his Jeep into a space, and they hop out. "I hope we can get there in time to be one of the first people to board."

"We only parked like two blocks away." Beca reminds him.

"True..."

"Oh by the way, did you bring your DS so we can play Pokémon?"

He checks his pocket. "Yeah I think I did – oh, wait… It's not there." He frowns.

"That's because I have it." She grins, waving it in his face.

"How did you -?"

"Not that hard, it was just sitting on your nightstand."

"Well, it's a 'scenic' train route, so maybe we should enjoy the ride." Jesse says, putting the DS in his pocket.

"You're so boring." Beca scoffs. "Fine. I'll put in headphones, then."

"Seriously?!"

"I'll share them with you." She offers.

"What music?"

"Hmmm….. Panic! at The Disco?"

"Shit, really? Yeah, I'll share headphones with you."

::

"Remember to use precaution when going in open areas of the train; as soot may get in your eyes and mouth. We also advise all asthmatic passengers, or passengers with repository issues to avoid open areas due to smoke ejected by the engine." A chirpy, happy voice announces over a speaker. "There are snack stands in the first class car, and in car four – eleven. There are also restrooms in nearly every car for your convenience. The conductor will be around shortly to punch your tickets."

Beca and Jesse shuffle down the aisle, trying to find two empty seats next to each other. They find some near the back of the car, near the doorway. "Oh, look, the seats flip around, so you can turn them the other way on the ride back." Jesse comments, flipping the seat back and forth a few times. After a moment, they finally sit down.

"That's cool. I just wish it was a time period accurate train." Beca sighs. "I love steam trains. They're so cool; and it looks awesome when steam blows out of the top."

Jesse leans back, testing out the seat. "I think they went with this because it's cheaper and easier to maintain."

"You know what would be cool?" Beca asks.

Jesse opens his mouth to reply, but she gives him a look that tells him it was a rhetorical question. "It would be cool to go on one of those vintage trains with those cool dining carts that look like they're straight out of the late 1800's." she says finally.

Jesse thinks about this for a moment. "Yeah, that would be cool." He says. "But I don't think there's anywhere in Georgia that offers that. I remember from history class…. 'Sherman's March through the South' – they destroyed everything, including train tracks; so all of those old trains are probably gone."

Beca makes a face. "Ew, history." She mutters. "So, if all those trains were destroyed; where'd they get this train?"

"Dunno." He shrugs. "I think I read on their website that it was donated from out of state. The train tracks we're going on follow an old route though. So technically it's somewhat historically accurate, even if the train isn't from here."

The door at the back of the car slides open, and the conductor emerges, hole – puncher in hand. "Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm on the polar express!" Beca squirms in her seat excitedly, sporting a kid-ish smile.

"The – what?"

"You know, the polar express! It's a Christmas movie. I love it. And the conductor comes around, and punches words into the children's tickets." She explains.

"Oh, that one!" He exclaims. "I've seen that movie."

"You've seen most movies." Beca retorts.

"That's…. kind of true, actually."

Just then, the conductor arrives at their seats, and punches a hole – not words (much to Beca's disappointment) in their respective tickets. He also hands them each a paper; which advertises other events on the train.

"Oh my god, Jesse, look! They have a polar express thingy in December!" she says, shaking his arm.

"I think it's for kids –"

" _ **I don't care!**_ " she whispers loudly, clutching the paper happily.

()

They're listening to _I Write Sins, Not Tragedies_ when the train passes a river. Beca rips her headphones out of their ears, and leans over towards the window. "We _have_ to go outside and look at this!" she says, tugging at Jesse's arm like a five year old at DisneyLand.

He helps her up, and they head out into a small open area in between train cars. It's windy; and Beca's hair is tossing about. She grabs it and tucks it in her shirt before leaning her head out to look at the quickly passing river. "Wow, look at it!" she whispers in awe.

"Hey, wait, listen." Jesse says suddenly. "I think I hear the speaker."

"Please remain indoors, and leave all open areas of the train; as we will be headed through a tunnel shortly. Due to the large amount of smoke this train produces, it may effect some passengers; so please shut all windows and remain in your train car until we exit the tunnel." The voice announces in clipped tones.

It continues, droning on with useless facts. "This tunnel is two hundred and forty feet in length, and was originally constructed in 1901. It was restored in 1982 by the local historical society."

Beca draws her head inside the train. "Are we going inside, or…?" She trails off, leaving the sentence hanging in midair.

"Hell no!" Jesse shouts, sticking his head out of the small window next to her.

"Woo – hoo!" Beca shouts, squeezing in underneath of him.

The train begins its journey through the tunnel, and they're plunged into darkness. Looking ahead, Beca can see the engine, its stack puffing out smoke at a steady pace. Beyond that, she can see a small circle of light – presumably the tunnel's exit – approaching at a fast pace. After a few moments, she's forced to duck her head back inside, though. Little pieces of soot fly through the air alongside the smoke, and were getting in her eyes.

Jesse soon follows; ducking his head back in, and he turns around to look at her, face brimming with exhilaration. "That was awesome!"

::

The train pulls to a stop in Eaton; a small, yet charming town, about an hour drive from the main train station. It takes several minutes for all of the passengers to unboard; and when they finally step onto the makeshift platform, they're greeted by the sight of a smaller station with a diner in it.

However, none of the passengers seem much interested in the 1950's style diner – most are making their way down the street, to the turntable where the train will turn around in a few minutes.

"Wow, Jesse, can you believe it? That's the original turntable!" Beca says in awe, glancing at a display that gives information about the train, and regurgitating the fact.

"Woah, really? That's neat." Jesse doubletakes, and turns around so he can read the sign in full.

Just then, a loud whistle blows, and the pair turn around to see what the commotion is about. Slowly, the engine's wheels begin to come to life. _Thwump, thwump, thwump_. It speeds up in tempo, and the engine slowly makes its way down the track, blowing out an excess amount of dark smoke out of the top.

"We're gonna miss it!" Beca shouts in panic; and she and Jesse run down the sidewalk, weaving through the crowd as quickly as possible. Luckily, the squeeze into a spot near the turntable just in time. The train begins to pull in just as they reach the railing. Everything suddenly goes quiet. Even the five year olds crying to their moms for Ice Cream fall quiet and watch in amazement as the engine pulls onto the over hundred year old piece of equipment.

Once the engine is fully on; the operator in the booth at the back of the turntable pulls down a lever. At first, nothing happens. Then, a light on top of a pole next to the train flashes green; and the old turntable sputters to life. Slowly, gears at the bottom rotate; in turn spinning the turntable clockwise. As it does, however, a loud, ugly groan is produced, and Beca has to cover her ears to blot out the sound.

After about thirty seconds, the train has spun a full three hundred sixty degrees, and rolls back onto the track smoothly.

"I think I should have invested in some ear plugs for that!" Beca shouts.

Jesse nods in agreement. "Me too!" He shouts back, ears still ringing. "Want to head up those steps and into town? We have a ninety minute layover."

"Sure!"

()

The walk up the steps is steeper than expected; and Beca is panting by the time they reach the top. To her horror; the town is built on an upwards slant; so the short walk there is even more tiresome.

She doesn't make it more than a block before she's forced to sit on a bench. Jesse joins her, clutching his knees and gasping for breath. "Who's idea was it to build the train station all the way down there?!"

"I have no idea." Beca gasps, shaking her head in disbelief. "I know that walk better have been worth it." She mutters, looking around at the stores nearby. None of them really seem interesting. "I also know that I don't know my way around this town."

"Wait…." Jesse shuffles around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out the same piece of paper the conductor handed them earlier. "It has a map of Eaton on the back." They both scan the map for a few minutes, but wind up more confused than before they pulled it out.

Beca sighs and rises to her feet in frustration. "How about we just walk down the street a block or two, and if we don't find anything, we just head back?"

"Sounds like a plan."

()

Just when they're about to give up and head back into town, Jesse spots an interesting window picture. "Hey look across the street." He says, pointing.

There's an NES controller painted on one of the shop windows. "Is that a retro gaming store?!" Beca gasps, rushing across the street eagerly; darting inside the small store.

It _is_. She practically moans when she sees al of the systems lined on a shelf. Atari 2600, NES, SNES; PlayStation; Sega – the list goes on and on. She pulls out her phone and quickly checks her bank account balance; before seizing some systems from the wall; bringing them over to a young man at the check out counter. "How much per game for these consoles?" she asks happily.

The poor boy barely has the time to stutter out a quiet "1.99 each" before she spots a glass case filled with handhelds. There DS's, PSP's; Gameboys – _**Gameboys**_. She's been looking for one of those for months; to replace the one she'd had since age ten that had finally broken.

"Oh, and how much for the GameBoys?" she adds, pointing to the case behind her.

Jesse rubs his forehead and sighs. (She gets the feeling he's starting to regret this trip.)

 **A/N**

 **AHHHH! This chapter took too long for me to write. I feel like my promise to write a new chapter every week has been tossed out the window and smashed to bits by Thor. The current time (probably a few minutes before I upload) is nearly midnight; so I will put off writing the announcement/updates for tomorrow morning. So do be expecting those soon. (Note: That** _ **will**_ **posted as a 'chapter' but don't be too excited – it is** _ **not**_ **another chapter.**

 **Now; as for if there are actually trains in Georgia, I am uncertain. This chapter is based off my vaca from a few weeks ago with my mom. (And yes, there really was a game store with GB's in a glass case! Haha)**

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review with constructive critism to tell me how I'm doing, and to help me improve!**


	9. Update: Aug 10 15

**Story update/info**

 **Aug. 10. 15**

After chapter 8; I will be following the events of PP2. Ch. 9 will start out several weeks after chapter 8 and transition to 3 years later. It may take a while for chapter 9 to be out (I'll have to brush up on my PP2 knowledge before I tackle that one! Though – I do already have an outline up and ready to go, it will probably undergo heavy revision over the next few days. (Writing for that will probably start in a day or two; I want to give my cramped hands a rest.)

So basically; I'll have maybe 2 or 3 chapters that are pretty much just to movie in written format; so there won't be much storyline that I've made up (aside from things I'll add here and there on what _I_ think should have happened at certain parts.). After that; I'll go alternate canon – since apparently they're making a third movie; and I, of course, cannot predict what will happen in it! :P

 **::**

Additionally; school is starting back up for me very soon (about 2 weeks) so I'm going to _**try**_ and get at least _**two more chapters**_ in before then.(Keyword = **Try**. It may not happen.) Once school starts, I will transition to only _**1 chapter per month;**_ instead of trying to keep up my current schedule of a chapter every week – two weeks.

Also, just some pointers for those who haven't quite figured it out yet;

An **::** __indicates a change in setting/scene

An **()** indicates a time skip within a setting or scene; or a POV change.

Also; expect chapters to become longer and longer in the future. I'm finding I simply cannot write in all necessary info for a chapter in my preferred word limit. So, judging by how long my latest chapters have been; I think it's safe to assume to new norm for chapters will be anywhere from 3 -5,000 words. This also means writing time will be a bit longer. (Writing 3 – 5k chapters is harder than 2 – 2.5k chapters. But this also means we get to see more of our beloved Beca and Jesse!)

Thanks for reading and supporting my story so far. I hope you continue to read and review into the future. (I'd like to recognize user **Dobby99** for reviewing _every_ chapter I've put out! I may not know you in person; but I very much enjoy seeing the notification for your reviews pop up! Your reviews are always encouraging.)

 **Savannah**


	10. Opportunity Cost (Cut Your Losses)

A/N

I'm back! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. It was really rude of me to drop off the map like that; but school had started, my laptop was running on and off (and was taken at one point due to a C… *cough* but let's avoid that…) But, it is now holiday break, and I have two weeks of free time. Unfortunately, a PDF file of the PP2 script is not out yet, so I'll just be following the storyline loosely. So, without further rambling and excuses, let's get this party started!

 **Chapter 9**

::

Beca paces around her room nervously, phone in hand. It was August 21st, which meant school started up again in two days. All of her belongings were neatly packed in boxes, just as they had been a year ago. But unlike last year, she wasn't waiting on a cab today.

Jesse had promised he'd call when he was an hour away. He was picking her up, and they'd be heading back to Barden together. Beca takes a deep breath to calm herself, and instead imagines seeing her friends again, and making plans for the Bellas.

 _'I wonder if we should hold auditions this year, or just wait until after finals…? I mean, we're pretty good as is, and I'd hate to-'_ Beca nearly jumps out of her skin as her phone rings; and nearly drops it. _'Please don't fall, I don't have a case for you yet.'_ She silently begs the phone.

She composes herself before answering. "Hey!"

"Hey, sorry for not calling, but I'm out front." Jesse says.

"You're out front?!" Beca scrambles to her window and peeks out. Sure enough, there he was, leaning against the Jeep, flashing a grin, and waving up at her with his free hand. She let the blind she was looking through fall back down against the window.

"You should be illegal…." She mutters into the phone, shaking her head and holding back a smile.

"Thanks." She can practically hear his smug face through the call.

()

"Should I order pizza?" Beca's mom calls from the doorway, just as Jesse hefts the last box into his trunk.

"No, we'll be fine, mom!" Beca shouts back. "Will you be able to see out of the back?" She asks Jesse skeptically.

He shrugs. "Not really, but I still have my side mirrors. People drive like this all the time, it'll be fine!" He claps her shoulder and gets in the car.

Beca stares uncertainly at the boxes for a moment before walking around to the passenger door. Suddenly, she turns around, and runs back up the path, and crushes her mom in a hug. "Can't leave without a hug."

Her mom smiles and hugs back for a moment before letting go. "You've gotta get going." She says quietly. "I'll miss having you around."

"Me too." Beca looks at the ground and kicks at a loose stone.

Her mom grins. "I bet Jesse will enjoy seeing you all the time again, though." She teases, lightly nudging her arm. "My loss is his gain."

" _Mom!_ ' Beca glares; but it's not really a mean one.

Her mother laughs and walks her back down the path. "C'mon, it's almost 3 o'clock. You've gotta get going if you want to be there before it gets too late."

Beca reluctantly climbs into the car and buckles herself in. She rolls down the window. "Bye, mom."

"Bye, Beca's mom." Jesse chimes in; earning an elbow to the ribs.

The older woman rolls her eyes. "Alright, you two. This isn't the first time you're going away for school, don't make it dramatic."

Beca's lips curve into a smile, and she rolls the window back up. "Alright loser, I'm turning on my music and fixing whatever lame stuff these poor speakers have been subjected to." She says, punching the _Eject CD_ button, and shoving her own CD in. "It's _Queen_ time."

Jesse picks up the CD box and examines it. "…. Greatest hits?" He raises an eyebrow.

Beca nods. "Um, yeah. Freddie Mercury is a music _legend_. Now, shhh, Bohemian Rhapsody is on."

Jesse rolls his eyes fondly puts an arm around her shoulder, pulling his car out of the drive way.

::

"Alright, girls! First Bella meeting of the year!" Beca shouts, gathering everyone into a circle. She motions for them to all sit on the floor.

"I can't believe we have a house now…" Amy says, looking around. The other mutter in agreement.

"Well, that's what happens when you win the ICCA's." Chloe responds, though she sounds just as surprised.

The Bella's all look over at her for a moment. Beca breaks the silence; "I can't believe you purposely flunked just to stay for another year with us." She says incredulously.

Chloe is taken aback. "This group is my _life_. I don't know what I'm gonna do after this."

"I'm gonna pretend I'm not seriously concerned by that…" Beca mutters, shifting from her position to let Lily get a spot at the circle. "Anyway! Back to business!" She claps her hands together. "I'm thinking we don't hold auditions just yet. I mean, if we see any outstanding singers, sure, let 'em in; but we really have a good, solid beat, and I don't want to disrupt that."

"Don't we need more people, though?" Cynthia pipes up from the other side of the room.

"Not technically, I think we only need like eight people to compete, right?" Fat Amy asks.

Chloe nods. "Exactly. Plus, you're all still sophomores, so the group doesn't necessarily have to expand right now."

"It'll also be a lot easier for me to choreograph routines when I know everyone's skill sets well." Beca adds. "But let's vote on it."

"All in favor of waiting to add members?"

Six hands raise.

"All those not in favor?"

The two remaining hands raise.

"Alright then, I guess it's settled." Beca scribbles the results down in her tiny notebook. "Okay, next order of business – who found some great songs over summer for us?"

Every hand in the room shoots up. Beca looks up from her notebook and cringes. "Yikes..."

::

 **-Timeskip to the events of Pitch Perfect 2-**

"I can't believe this." Chloe paces in a circle. "I can't believe we're banned from holding auditions. We're all seniors! I already took Russian Lit. and passed! What are we going to do?!"

Beca sighs are rubs her temples. "I dunno, Chloe…" The second they'd gotten back to the Bella house, she'd barged into Beca's room and shut the door; not wanting to worry the others. "You did find a loophole… maybe we can win this World thingy, and get back our right to hold auditions….."

Chloe stops her pacing and stamps her feet for emphasis. "You heard them, Bec, the US team has never won! What makes you think we can change that?"

Beca lifts her head from her hands. "I don't know, Chlo…. We're the Bella's, we'll figure something out." She heaves herself off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asks angrily. "We have to figure something out!"

Beca sighs, shoulder drooping. "Listen, I'm really tired. Enough so that I can't really force myself to be stressed out about this right now. You were right, we're all seniors; it doesn't really matter anymore. We'll be leaving here in a few months. We'll be getting jobs, and moving away. Maybe we need to start focusing on other things."

Chloe gasps, affronted. "How can you say that? We've dedicated so much time to this group, and you're going to let it fall apart?" She accuses, but Beca is already walking away.

"Where are you going?!" She shouts again.

"To Jesse's place." Beca slings her bag over her shoulder, and is out the door before Chloe can say anything else.

::

It's half past nine when Beca knocks on Jesse's door; and she can hear him stumbling around before he opens it. "Hey." He says tiredly. "What're you doing here? Thought you were staying with the Bella's tonight."

Beca sighs, shoving past him, and flopping down onto his couch. "Ugh, no way. Chloe was yelling at me. I couldn't take any more of that. I have that job tomorrow…. I needed somewhere I could sleep in peace." She glances up at him. "Sorry for coming without telling you." She apologizes.

Jesse shrugs. "I mean, you practically live here half the time, so it's no biggie." He shuts the door and joins her on the couch. "But, uh, next time maybe use the spare key I gave you."

Beca reaches into her purse and pulls out her keychain, examining it. "Oh, yeah…" she trails off and puts it back sheepishly.

"I was still awake, don't worry. It doesn't really matter." He insists. "You know, the Bella house is going to be….." he searches for a word, "tense…. for a few days. You want to crasher for a week or two?"

Beca sighs in relief and leans her head on the back of the couch. "Fuck, yes. That would be great."

Jesse smiles and turns his laptop on, plugging it into the TV as he does. "You've got to see this new show I found. The animation is amazing…."

Beca cracks open an eye. "Animation? What is it? A cartoon?"

"No…" he scrolls through his files, searching for something.

"Oh." She leans forward, unties her hair, and takes off her shoes. Then, she removes her jacket, and leans into him, closing her eyes. "I'm probably going to wind up falling asleep though." She murmurs.

Jesse looks up from his screen. "Hold on…" he mutters, and she can hear him moving around. Then, the couch suddenly falls away beneath her, and her eyes fly open. Jesse is carrying her out of the living room, and into his own room.

"Jesse!" She whisper-shouts. "I could have walked over there!" She protests weakly, but does nothing to free herself from his grasp.

He hums quietly, and she can feel his chest vibrating. "I know you could have. I'm just being cheesy." He smiles down at her. "You love it, though, don't lie."

Beca crosses her arms. "Put me down, already!"

"Fine, fine." He complies, laying her down on the bed. "There. I'll be right back, I gotta go change."

"It's not like I haven't seen you naked." Beca scoffs. "Oh, shit, all my clothes are out in the living room…"

"Not true. You left some here and I washed them for you. Check the drawer over there."

Beca sits up and checks the dresser closest to her. Sure enough, there's a small pile of clothes waiting for her. "Thanks." She mutters, unhooking her bra underneath her shirt, and changing into her fluffy pants. Grinning, she turns around and sling-shots the bra at Jesse's face. "Fight!"

"What the-?" He pulls it off his face, and tosses it into his dirty clothes bin, before glaring playfully at her. "You are so on, Mitchell." He growls, tackling her.

"Challenge accepted, Swanson."

()

Jesse's alarm clock wakes Beca up, and she slams her hand down on it to quiet it. She's all too comfortable, tangled in a mess of limbs and blankets, to get up right now. She doesn't even remember how she got over onto his side of the bed; much less why she's even in his bed in the first place.

Oh, right.

Heat creeps up her neck, and she's fully awake now. Realizing her attempts at staying asleep any longer are now futile, she groans, and slowly sits up. She glances over at Jesse; one of his arms is wrapped around her waist, the other is tucked under a pillow. He's snoring softly, hair curled up, and his face flushed. Beca gingerly moves his arm and untangles herself from him, picking up his discarded shirt from last night, and pulling it over her head, before making her way to his kitchen.

Humming quietly, she peeks in his fridge and sighs. Then, she checks his cabinets. ' _Boo-yah. Pancake mix.'_ She thinks, applauding herself internally for the discovery. She pulls out a pan for the pancake mix; and mixes, water, vanilla, and cinnamon in, before dumping some into the pan. Anxiously eyeing it, she debates whether or not she has enough time to pour milk into glasses before it burns. Rushing over to the fridge, she decides she does. She sets the glasses on the counter, and hurries back over to the pancake.

She's made three pancakes by the time Jesse shuffles into the kitchen. She glances at him before returning her attention to the pancakes. He must have put pants on, and a clean shirt. _'What a shame…'_

Jesse stares at her for a moment, sleep-fogged brain still processing things. "You're making breakfast?" He asks slowly, voice scratchy and thick.

"Yep. Figured I could be a nice girlfriend for once." She jokes, flipping her current pancake over.

"You're wearing my shirt." He pulls up a stool and sits at the counter.

Beca places the last pancake on the plate beside the stove. She looks down at his shirt, tugging at the fabric with her hands. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Don't be." He says appreciatively, sipping at his glass of milk.

Her face flushes, and she flops a pancake un-gracefully onto a plate, setting it in front of him. "I could only make five of them." She explains, getting a plate for herself.

"That'll be more than enough for two people; these pancakes are huge."

"Thanks. I try my best to compensate for my height in the form of large pancakes."

Jesse practically spits out his milk; and he swallows before laughing. "You're welcome." He grins, and moves his elbow as she sits down. He passes her the syrup. "Here."

She takes it, and pours it onto her pancakes. Jesse leans over, observing. "Are you trying to drown them?" He asks in the most serious tone he can muster.

"Obviously." Beca retorts, trying to maintain a serious face of her own; but fails, bursting into a fit of laughter a moment later. "Shut up!" She shouts, face splitting into a happy smile.

"I absolutely refuse." He grins, mouth full of pancakes. His eyes widen, and suddenly, he exclaims, "Oh! I totally forgot to tell you something! It's great!"

Beca's fork stops mid-movement, and she lowers it. "What is it?"

"I got this awesome job offer in L.A. The guy said that I could fly out for an interview sometime soon." He gestures animatedly, huge smile on his face. "Can you believe it?"

Beca's mouth falls open. "They – you - got a job offer? In L.A?"

Jesse nods, rambling on. "Yeah, they looked into some of my work for local plays and stuff. It's actually more like a Film School kind of thing, but they said I could work there after I graduate if I wanted." He pauses, "I'm just not sure how I'd fit in a trip to L.A with school and everything.

Beca's brain had stopped functioning after the wors 'job offer in L.A'. She hadn't just poured three year of her heart and soul into one person, just for him to leave. But at the same time, she'd be a horrible person if she held him down.

"Maybe you could fit an interview in during the holiday break." She offers meekly, struggling to keep her voice from cracking.

"That's a great idea. I'll call them back after we finish breakfast." He says, shoving a pancake piece into his mouth.

Beca looks down at her own pancake sadly.

::

Jesse's car slows to a halt outside of _'Residual Heat'_ recording studio. He looks over at Beca excitedly. "So Lil' Wayne's recorded here, huh?" He asks cheekily.

"Yeah, and he was arrested here twice." Beca replies matter-of-factly.

"Really?" He exclaims in mock surprise.

Beca glances at the bland building nervously. "I can't believe they hired me."

"Of course they did. You rock the party that rocks the body."

Beca looks at him pointedly. "I don't even know where to begin with that…"

"I stand by it." He holds back a grin, unbuckling himself, and getting out of the car. Beca soon follows him, and he grabs her computer bag before meeting her at the back of his car.

"So, any first day jitters?" He asks, holding her bag.

"No, nah, I'm just gonna be moody and distant; artists love that, right?" She lies, covering up with a joke.

"I know I love that." He smiles, easily going along with it. He hold out her bag for her. "Here you go." He says, gesturing to the recording studio.

Beca takes two steps before she turns back, nervous smile on her lips. "Dude, why do I feel so guilty?" She asks worriedly. "I've given a lot to the Bella's, right? That's like, three years of my life." She rambles, trying to reassure herself.

Jesse leans over, rubbing her arm. "Bec, you shouldn't feel guilty at all about _taking you chance_. I didn't, when I got into Film School"

"Clearly." Beca retorts. "You get to graduate a year early and go to USC, leaving me behind – forever, I might add. I think you should feel a little guilty." She says, pulling a face.

Jesse sighs. "I am not leaving you behind forever, okay? We'll be fine. We're Jesse and Beca." He hesitates before adding, "We're Jessica."

"It took you three years to find that?" Beca asks quietly.

"I know, I'm really disappointed in myself. " He mutters. "Anyway, go in there, go kick ass at this internship, and then you'll join me in L.A, and we'll live a west coast lifestyle together. Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Beca nods enthusiastically.

"I'm talking juice cleanses, fish tacos, hikes; we'll both get plastic surgery…"

"Yeah?"

"I'll make my nose bigger for some reason…." Jesse rambles, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be beautiful." Beca jokes, gesturing to her face.

"It'll be the dream life." He finishes, patting her shoulder.

"This is a big deal, right?" She asks, eyes wide and anxious.

"Yes, it is a very big deal." He assures her.

"Okay." She nods.

Jesse presses a chaste kiss to her lips, and gently pushes her away. "Go kill it."

Beca nods and backs away dramatically, heaving her bag onto her shoulder. Jesse leans on his car, smiling proudly. "Nothing's gonna stop my girl!" He shouts.

"Please don't do this!" She shouts back, pretending to hide her face.

"Bec's in effects, yo!" He continues shouting.

"I don't know him!" She yells back as she rounds the corner.

Jesse grins before getting back in his car, and pulling away. Beca is just walking inside when he rounds the corner, and he frowns slightly, sighing. "I hope everything goes okay for us…" he mutters before shifting gears and driving away.

 **A/N**

 **Okay, so I somehow shit this chapter out in a day? I dunno. I tried my best to include actual snippets of dialogue in here; but most of this will show what I think happened off-screen during PP2. Also, yay for heavily implied sex. (I absolutely refuse to write you sinful people smut.) Once again, I'm** _ **extremely**_ **sorry for the unannounced 5 month hiatus. I was very busy with school and had very little time to write; and anything I did was soon scrapped.**

 **Anyway, Happy Holidays! I might upload a Christmas chapter that is unrelated to the main story, but I'm not sure. It depends on how bored I am. Hopefully I can get a few more chapters done before school starts back up on Jan. 4** **th** **! (Also, why does FF not save my indentations...? Sorry, I guess?)**

 **References in this chapter (for those interested):**

 **Queen – British (rock?) band**

 **~ Savannah**


End file.
